juan's flying burrito

1 1/4 oz La Puritita Verda Mezcal Joven
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Combier Triple Sec

Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass. Top with ~2 1/2 oz Crémant de Bourgogne Brut and float 3 dash Peychaud's Bitters.

Two Sundays ago, I paid a visit to bartender Ted Kilpatrick at No. 9 Park. Before we even got down to talking about drinks, he let me taste a few of the new spirits at the bar. One of the ones he was most excited about was a mezcal from La Puritita that was made from espadin agave from San Juan del Rio. Apparently, the price point will be in the Del Maguey Mezcal Vida range. Overall, it had a soft smoke aroma and the spirit had a duality of a smooth glycerol-like nature balanced by an agave and smoke roughness. After tasting it, I definitely wanted to try something with it. The drink Ted suggested was a sparkler which I believe was created by Tyler Wang, but it lacked a name; Ted told me that he was tormenting Tyler by calling it Juan's Flying Burrito after the small chain of Mexican restaurants in New Orleans. A week or so later, I learned that the name stuck.

The Juan's Flying Burrito greeted the senses with a yeasty carbonated wine aroma that was coupled with the Peychaud's anise; as the float of Peychaud's Bitters was drained away, the mezcal began to take a bigger role on the nose. The sip offered a dry, carbonated citrus-wine flavor that led into the wine's funk on the swallow. The swallow ended with the smoke and Peychaud's at first and later with the smokey agave and lime once the bitters float was sipped away. Indeed, Ted's description of the drink being "a fun aperitif that will leave the palate ready for anything" was pretty accurate.