There’s a long-running tradition of cocktails that name-check the morning repast, including the “breakfast martini” prepared with orange marmalade (it’s not really a martini at all) and the breakfast daiquiris that my good friend Nicholas Jarrett and his then roommate Thomas Waugh used to make at their apartment in Williamsburg around 2009. In those days Clover Club and Death and Co. bartenders would make classic daiquiris with a splash of grapefruit at sunrise—or at least they liked to talk about it a lot.
I wanted to evoke those early morning daiquiris with this riff on the margarita. Feisty enough to start your evening but created with brunch vibes in mind, this cocktail combines a subtly smoky mezcal with a classic breakfast tea.
Margaritas spring from the classic cocktail family of daisies—drinks sweetened with a liqueur. The version everyone knows uses curaçao or orange liqueur, and while you still get a hint of the classic American breakfast fruit with the Earl Grey, the citrus liqueur in my daisy is my personal morning citrus favorite, grapefruit.
Recipe information
Total Time
30 minutes, plus cooling
Yield
Makes 1
Ingredients
Earl Grey Syrup
Cocktail
Preparation
Earl Grey Syrup
Step 1
Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Pour into glass or ceramic container with 2 Earl Grey tea bags or ¼ oz. (7 g) loose-leaf Earl Grey tea. Steep for 7 minutes. Strain into a resealable glass jar, discarding tea bags or leaves. Add 1 cup (200 g) sugar and stir until mostly dissolved. Let cool until barely warm, seal jar, and shake until sugar is fully dissolved. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Shake before using.
Cocktail
Step 2
Combine 2 oz. mezcal, ¾ oz. fresh lime juice, ½ oz. Earl Grey Syrup, ½ oz. pamplemousse liqueur, and a pinch kosher salt with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until well chilled, about 15 seconds. Double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit slice dipped in salt, if using.
Recipe notes
Back to topSee Related Recipes and Cooking Tips
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Make better cocktails at home by cracking open a bottle of mezcal.The Myth of the Margarita and Its Many Inventors
For a simple combination of tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and salt, this cocktail has a winding history.
