[the root and the flower]

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1 oz Avèze Gentian Liqueur
1/2 oz St. Germain
1 dash Absinthe (*)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
(*) Also made with 3 dash Barkeep's Fennel Bitters

After the Category 1 at Estragon, I began to flip through Sahil Mehta's cocktail notebook. There, I spotted an unnamed mezcal recipe calling for gentian and elderflower liqueurs. Sahil explained that he had made it for Misty Kalkofen of Del Maguey Mezcal; that time, he made it for her with absinthe and he switched over to fennel bitters the following week. I was more intrigued with an absinthe recipe for its accessibility and requested it that way. For a name, I dubbed it The Root and the Flower after a book written in the 1930s about 16th century India as well as a late 20th century book about Spanish history.
The drink began with a smoke, floral, and lemon oil aroma that later moved on to a more anise-driven one. A slightly fruity sip gave way to a smoky mezcal and earthy bitter swallow, and a floral and anise finish.