Friday, August 24, 2012

the last mechanical art

3/4 oz Chichicapa Mezcal (Sombra)
3/4 oz Cynar
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
3/4 oz Campari

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
Two Mondays ago, we decided to venture into Beta Cocktails to find our evening's libation. There, I spotted an interesting quad from Maksym Pazuniak called the Last Mechanical Art. The drink started with an orange oil aroma that brightened up the mezcal's smokiness. While the sip was a gentle grape and caramel, the swallow began with Punt e Mes and Cynar's bitterness and ended with Campari and mezcal flavors. After a few sips, the Campari notes begin to linger on the finish; indeed, the Campari seemed to be better balanced in Maks' next iteration of this theme, Dancing in the Dark, which I will write about next week.

4 comments:

bza said...

This is my least favorite Maks drink, but that's not saying much since I love almost all of his drinks. I feel the 1:1:1:1 ratio is overused, and there are really only a handful of drinks where I think it creates something really new and interesting.

frederic said...

Yeah, this one was a little sharp for me. The next one of his that I'll write about is a variation that uses Swedish Punsch to smooth things out.

Unknown said...

The first time I made this when this was first posted last year, I used Vida and thought it was pretty good. I have a bottle of Chichicapa on hand now and made it again with that - a noticeable improvement. The drink is a little strong with the smokier Vida but more balanced when made as-written.

Agreed with the equal ratio being overused. Fortunately I tend to enjoy so many drinks in that mold :)

frederic said...

There is definitely a elegance of subtle complexity in the single village mezcals from Del Maguey. I have seen the difference as well in specific recipes.

However, $30-35 vs. $80-120+ is often the rationale...