For the best mezcal selection in town, head to this tucked-away alley bar

Halfway through reading the cocktail menu at La Doña Mezcaleria, the story starts to change.

It opens, of course, with a house margarita, plus coin-style and flaca (skinny) options, then the obligatory mezcalrita (subs mezcal for tequila) and easy-to-love paloma (matches grapefruit with mezcal). But here the drinks get a little funky and a little strange, in a good way. Their ingredients are straightforward but cleverly combined.

Next thing you know, you’ll be learning much more about the sometimes-smoky, often super-complex spirit known as mezcal. As an alcohol, it encompasses spirits made from dozens of agave varieties found around Mexico. And discovering it is akin to delving into wine for the first time — each agave and growing region carries its own distinct terroir.

“So many people that come to the bar say they don’t really like mezcal,” said La Doña’s beverage director, Ganice Kachakov. “So I personally think a cocktail is a really nice way to introduce people to mezcal, especially if the cocktail is really well balanced, not putting 20 ingredients in to mask the mezcal flavor. You should be able to taste it.”

It’s a tall order for Kachakov, but drinks like the silky 1848 or bitter-forward El Galan are making converts of tequila, whiskey and gin drinkers. The first is made with Rey Campero espadín mezcal — named for the agave plant varietal — plus Montenegro amaro, lemon and a house pepita orgeat; while the second uses two aperitifs, Cocchi Americano and Suze, plus a fruity Derrumbes San Luis Potosí mezcal.

In one visit to the bar, Kachakov hopes you’ll try a cocktail or two. By the next, you might ask for a single pour of mezcal in a ceramic bowl, or a flight to compare agave expressions. Eventually, drinkers can simply “order a copita with dinner,” Kachakov said.

“That first sip is always going to be super harsh on your palate,” she explained. “You want to sip on the mezcal for as long as you can, even though it’s just a 1-ounce pour. Because it’ll change. Once you get used to it, it’s going to open up and change your palate so much.”

That first, smoky smell or fiery swallow will give way to notes of fruit, floral or spice, and creaminess, minerality or earthiness. The traditional, ancestral process of making mezcal starts by pit-roasting the agave, then hand-mashing, open-fermenting with wild yeasts and distilling in clay pots.

“You can get so passionate about where it comes from and where it’s made and trying to support the small producers that are making this stuff for us to enjoy,” Kachakov said.

Some of her current favorites include Real Minero, which focuses on low environmental impact through mezcals made by hand; Banhez, which is a co-op business model, owned by its growers and producers; and El Jolgorio, whose Barril is a particular and pricey bottle she’s bought more than once for her home.

When she’s not evangelizing at the bar, Kachakov says she’ll enjoy her own mezcal collection in a very specific way. “I never make cocktails at home,” she explained. “I love my job and I love what I do … But once I’m at home, it’s minimal effort: Topo Chico or just water, with a little pour.”