1/2 oz Kirschwasser
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1 barspoon Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
[1/2 tsp Cinnamon Syrup (*)]
2 dash Mole Bitters (Homemade)
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry or 3 (Luxardo Maraschino) speared on a cocktail pick to resemble an ant.
(*) Note that Imbibe in 2010 did not include this and thus I made it that way here, the 2014 Death & Co.: Modern Classic Cocktail Book later included it.
For a cocktail on Sunday, the Red Ant in Imbibe magazine had caught Andrea's eye, and indeed, it would make good use of our newly purchased bottle of mezcal. The Red Ant was created by Thomas Waugh when he was at the Alembic in San Francisco (he is now at Death & Co. in New York). He named the drink after the Rio Hormiga Colorada or Red Ant River in Oaxaca, Mexico, which flows through the land where mezcal is made. Waugh called for a three cherry garnish to represent the body parts of an ant, and it reminded me a bit of Camper English's Olive Centipede, albeit a less sinister one.
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4 comments:
I think(?) this is the first time I've seen a post with homemade Mole bitters. I whipped up your celery bitters a few months ago and have absolutely loved them. It really really helped out the Means of Preservation cocktail you wrote about, which has subsequently become a household favorite. Any chance you can write up the recipe for your mole bitters? I'd love to give those a try.
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They were bitters that I never perfected but came out ok. I made them when there was a shortage of Bittermens Bitters in town and one bartender at Drink was having a panic attack. I made him a batch but a day or so before they were done, they were able to get some more of the Bittermens.
The Celery Bitters were definitely a recipe that wasn't rushed and was one of my better recipes. Glad you made them!
I know that this is an old post! I came across it looking for drinks to make with my bottle of G.E Massenez kirschwasser But I also found the Red Ant in the first Death & Co book and it mentions a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon bark syrup which is missing in this post. Maybe Imbibe messed it up back in 2010? Might account for the dry taste that you noted back then! Great drink with that small addition of sweet spice!!
Thanks! I can't surmise whether Thomas changed it before the book came out, he or his PR agent submitted it wrong, or the magazine printed it wrong. I added a note. I know that when I had a drink in the magazine, they contacted me before publication to fact check it but that was years later in 2022.
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