yunga punch

1 oz Singani 63 Brandy
1 oz Fidencio Mezcal
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Giffard Pamplemousse Liqueur
3 drop Salt Tincture

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

After taking an early cut at work due to opening the restaurant for lunch, I headed over to Backbar for a drink. From their new menu formatted as a world map, I asked bartender Joseph Gabriel Habib for the Yunga Punch representing Bolivia; the drink's subtitle was "A landlocked tiki drink full of smoke and spice." The combination of grapefruit, lime, and cinnamon made me think of Jeff Berry's stripped down Zombie, the Zombie Essence, and bartender Kat Lamper later commented that it almost got dubbed the Bolivian Zombie. I replied that I was expecting it to be served on crushed ice, and Kat described that when Carlo Caroscio created it that way, the flavors got lot lost in the dilution so he opted for serving it up.
In the glass, the Yunga Punch delivered smoke from the mezcal and earthy funk from the Singani to the nose. Next, grapefruit and lime on the sip lurched into brandy, agave, and smoke on the swallow with cinnamon, grapefruit, and more smoke on the finish.