Summer drinking comes in phases. There’s the Incoming! phase (mint juleps in May), the Reunited phase (gin and tonics in June), the Fireworks Make Everything Better phase (lager on Independence Day), and the Whatever It Takes phase, which starts around now and runs straight through August. As anyone who’s ever spent a summer in a city knows, the WIT phase requires any means necessary to regulate your body temperature and mood as the steamy air threatens to crush your soul. That could mean a spritz, a margarita, a hard seltzer, or a wine cooler. You do you. Or it could mean a smoky cocktail. Wait one sweat-drenched second, you say. Did I actually just suggest sipping smoky flavors while simmering in steamy heat? As a matter of fact, yes. Hear me out.

As Seth Corliss, head bartender at Atlantico, in the South End, points out, it’s the same logic that applies to barbecue. With that in mind, he created the La Mula Amuhada, or Smoky Mule, a zingy take on the canonical vodka-and-ginger-beer drink, using a combination of mezcal and tequila as his base. Introducing dry vermouth to the mix leans into the Iberian sensibilities and traditions that define the kitchen here. Corliss dresses up the drink with a pineapple-sage syrup for an herbaceous sweet note that nudges the smoke into the background, a quality that makes this drink an excellent accompaniment with anything fresh off a grill.

The smoky/fruity/herbal trifecta make the cocktail a versatile invention, which means I’ll be picking it up again as the first phases of autumn drinking arrive.

La Mula Amuhada (or Smoky Mule)

¾ ounce pineapple-sage syrup (To make syrup: in a small saucepan over low heat, heat 1 cup pineapple juice, 1 cup sugar, 12 sage leaves, 15 cloves. Stir until sugar dissolves and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool and strain off cloves and sage leaves.)

1½ - 2 ounces of ginger beer

1 pineapple frond to garnish (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients except ginger beer into a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake vigorously for 5 seconds.

2. Pour ginger beer into highball glass. Strain mixture from shaker into glass. Top with fresh ice.

3. Garnish with a pineapple frond.

Liza Weisstuch can be reached at liza.weisstuch@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @livingtheproof.

Work at Boston Globe Media