[joan miro]

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 inch Celery Stalk

Muddle celery, and add rest of ingredients and ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice rimmed with celery salt-ginger-honey crystals (*). Garnish with a celery leaf.
(*) Substitute celery salt and sugar mix in a pinch.

Two Mondays ago, we traveled down to the South End to pay bartender Sahil Mehta a visit at Estragon. For a first drink, I peered into Sahil's drink notebook and spotted an unnamed herbal drink that combined Cynar as a co-base spirit with herbal notes from celery and floral notes from St. Germain. Celery has worked well with Cynar such as in the Gloamin Dwines as well with St. Germain such as in the Alto Cucina in the past. For a name, I took the unusual combination, artful presentation, and Spanish theme of the restaurant and dubbed it the Joan Miró.
The libation offered an herbal aroma with brighter notes from the celery and darker ones from the Cynar. The lime sip shared wine notes from the vermouth and fruit ones from the St. Germain. Finally, the swallow presented an herbal swallow that transitioned into floral notes; the celery began poking through at the end after a little ice melt. Overall, the drink functioned well as an aperitif, although with the Cynar, it would make a fine digestif as well.