Cocoa Smoke
Recipe:
- 45ml mezcal
- 15ml crème de cacao (preferably Tempus Fugit)
- 15ml Ancho Reyes
- 3 dashes mole/chocolate bitters
Stir everything on ice until sufficiently chilled (around 30 seconds), strain into a prechilled cocktail glass. Express the oils of an orange zest over the drink and use as garnish/drop it in the glass.
A very nice mezcal drink that just makes sense. I've since made a mental note to use it as an easy to make standard serve for guests who are particularly looking for the smoky agave spirit. It comes from the Washington Post's "Spirit & Cocktail Columnist," one of those obscure job descriptions that nonetheless sound quite pleasant...
It tastes like it sounds, a great combination of agave, earth, smoke, orange oils, nice dry earthy cocoa in the nose and mouth, and then a nice warm spiciness in the last third.
He surprised me positively, because I must confess that previous attempts with other recipes, just copying the listed amount of Ancho in them, have not convinced me 100% concerning the spicy liqueur. I feared at some point therefore the liqueur is not to my liking. Somehow I did not like the slightly earthy-sour notes he got, I like spiciness more dry-piquant, as can be found in the Hellfire Bitters of Bittermen's for example. With the Ancho, on the other hand, you really have the feeling that a chili was freshly muddled in the shaker including the pulp. But here it is well integrated, even with the whole 15ml.
Source: "Mezcal + Tequila Cocktails" by Robert Simonson, p. 33, originally by M. Carrie Allan, Washington Post, 2016
