eyes on the table

1 oz El Peloton de La Muerte Mezcal
1 oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz St. Germain
2 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a single old fashioned glass, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Tuesdays ago, I decided to make a drink that I had been scheming up for two of my long time regulars who have followed me since my Russell House Tavern days to my new gig at River Bar. Since I had been on a Byrrh kick and River Bar has it in their fridge, I figured that I ought to begin to analyze the ingredient like I did for Swedish punsch a year ago. When I recalled how well it paired with mezcal in the Ask the Dust, I remembered that the tip came from Haus Alpenz. Therefore, I messaged my friend Jake Parrott of Haus Alpenz for advice on how to use this quinquina. He recommended a few things including St. Germain. And from the previous night's Italian Job, I nicked the Aperol ingredient along with a chocolate element from my own Ask the Dust by way of bitters. Since Aperol and St. Germain have played well in cocktails like the Dunniette and Part-Time Lover, I scrawled down the above recipe as a first pass.
The combination worked rather well from a straw taste and my guests definitely seemed to approved. For a name, I later dubbed this one Eyes on the Table after a work by Spanish born surrealist artist Remedios Varo. Besides loving her work for quite a while, it was symbolically relevant given the French and Mexican ingredients since Varo fled to France during the Spanish Civil War and then to Mexico during the German Occupation of World War II.