monopatín

1 oz Lustau Fino Sherry
1 oz Rabarbaro Zucca Amaro

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass that was rinsed with mezcal and contains a large ice cube. Garnish the ice cube with a pinch of fleur del sel (sea salt).

Two Tuesdays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to Craigie on Main where Ted Gallagher and Jared Sadoian were tending bar. For my first drink, I requested the Monopatín from Jared, and I also asked for an explanation about the name as monopatín translates from Spanish into "skateboard." I assumed that it was bartender John Mayer's drink for his Texas roots often include a bit of Tex-Mex culture and Spanish vocabulary. Alas, I was wrong and Jared referred me to Ted who had created the drink. Ted denied having a skateboarding past or present; instead, he was inspired by Evan Harrison's Peralta named after famous skater Stacy Peralta. Moreover, he was also influenced by John Gertsen's Moto Guzzi both in its vehicular theme and in its equal parts format (equal parts Booker's Bourbon and Punt e Mes stirred with ice and strained into a rocks glass).
The Monopatín began with a smokey nose from the mezcal rinse and a dark herbal aroma from the Zucca. The sherry offered grape notes on the sip that were sweetened by the amaro's sugar content, and the Zucca's herbal quotient appeared on the swallow. When the salt melted the ice and dripped into the drink, the Monopatín got sweeter for the salt reduced the perception of bitterness. Since it was placed on top of the ice, there was a delay such that the first few sips were different from perhaps the last two thirds of the drink. Overall, the Monopatín seemed like it would make a wonderful aperitif which was Ted's intention in crafting the recipe.