zimmermann telegram

1 1/2 oz Milagro Blanco Tequila
1 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
1/8 oz Kübler Absinthe (1 barspoon)
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with. Double strain into a highball glass and top with 2 oz Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel beer.

One of the drinks that bartender Ted Kilpatrick recommended as I contemplated the menu was one that he recently concocted -- an agave riff of the Scotch-based Morning Glory Fizz variation he made me last year. Just like that variation, Ted utilized beer for the Fizz, but he went with a Belgian IPA instead of a Tripel for the bubbles. Ted's rationale for keeping the beer was that hops and tequila go so well together, and India Pale Ales have a higher level of hoppiness than most other beer styles. Symbolically, the Fizz was Mexican spirits being teased by European bubble agitation. Similarly, Ted named the drink the Zimmermann Telegram after the 1917 diplomatic proposal from Germany to Mexico. In that coded telegram, Germany urged Mexico to go to war with the United States; Mexico would seek to gain back territories lost in the 19th century and Germany would gain the United States becoming distracted. Germany anticipated that the then neutral United States was going to be drawn into World War I anyways due to Germany scaling up their submarine warfare program. However, the decoding of the intercepted note angered the United States into declaring war on Germany and her Allies a few months later anyways.
The Zimmermann Telegram served to me was not as encrypted as the nearly century old one was. It began with a smokey mezcal aroma that was joined by anise notes from the absinthe. The sip was a sweet, creamy lemon flavor that contained a bit of bubbles that tickled the tongue. Next, the beginning of the swallow contained the tequila and mezcal flavors, and the end presented the beer's hops.