It’s winter! Time for boozy cocktails to warm our bones from the chill outside. Mezcal is an excellent choice to fight the winter cold, so let’s draw the spirit out in a cocktail! Slow and steady is the way to go here. This cocktail highlights the savory, vegetal, and smoky flavors while maintains the subtle citrus and agave notes of the Quiereme Mucho Espedin Mezcal we’re using. This synthesis requires a little planning and prep, but the payoff is big!
These bitters are key to lining up the flavor profiles for our Mezcal cocktail. By itself, Cynar, a traditional artichoke based amaro, is much too rich and caramel-y. So I decided to bring out its savory and bitter flavor profile.
Homemade Cynar Bitters Ingredients:
A bottle of Cynar
1 bunch fresh rosemary
1 bunch fresh lemon thyme
2 fluid ounces olive oil
Bitters Directions
Find a sealable container of your liking large enough for the rosemary and lemon thyme to lay flat, but small enough for them to thoroughly cover the bottom. If the container is too narrow, cut the herbs so that they fit. If the bottom of the container cannot be covered, find a smaller one. Once properly sized, you will take your herbs and heavily char them directly over an open flame for approximately eight to 12 minutes. Char each herb separately as the Lemon thyme will char much faster. Don’t be afraid if it looks like a burnt twig. That’s the goal! The rosemary is hardier. When finished charring, you only want a little green still showing. Once charred put back into the container and cover the herbs with Cynar. Top with a layer of the two fluid ounces of olive oil. Allow to rest overnight. Shake a little in the morning. The next evening you can do one of two things: strain out the herbs and put the liquids into the freezer until frozen, and then scrape off the olive oil. Alternatively, you can put everything in the freezer until just the olive oil solidifies and then dump everything through a strainer. If you don’t want little, charred flakes, then further strain through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. You should now have something that is much more bitter but with savory notes and hints of richness in the background.
Cocktail Ingredients:
1.5 ounces Quiereme Mucho Espadin Mezcal
1 bar spoon agave
3 bar spoon Cynar homemade bitters
1 large lime peel
Large cubed ice
Double rocks glass
Cocktail Directions
Add all ingredients, except the lime peel, into a stirring glass and fill with ice. Stir. Just keep stirring. We want the drink chilled very well for a nice viscous mouthfeel. Strain into the Double Rocks glass over fresh ice and express the lime over the drink. Cheers.
Want to know more about Mezcal? Click here to read all about this delicious spirit!
