DANIEL MAURER
El Jimador’s Shifty at Mayahuel
304 E. 6th St.; no phone
A bright, crisp, and citrusy affair made with pineapple-infused mezcal, lime juice, sugarcane syrup, and Negra Modelo, with a spicy-salt rim and a Kold-Draft ice cube.
ADAM PLATT
Aguacate and Mezcal at Macondo
157 E. Houston; 212-473-9900
The honey, agave nectar, and fresh avocado give Junior Merino’s bracing slush an aura of healthfulness. But the Scorpion mezcal and tantalizing cost (only $7.50) make it soothingly lethal.
ROBIN RAISFELD
Fitty-Fitty at Pegu Club
77 W. Houston; 212-473-7348
Audrey Saunders’s very wet martini is either a welcome backlash to the cocktail’s ever-drier trajectory or a nostalgic return to its original proportions. Either way, it’s delicious.
ROB PATRONITE
Waterfront Cocktail at Prime Meats
465 Court St.; 718-254-0327
Two parts Fernet-Branca, one part Branca Menta, and a splash of lime juice topped up with ginger beer: Tossing one of these bracingly bitter tipples down the hatch is like following a Finnish sweat-lodge session with a plunge into an icy lagoon.