[zaragoza]

1 1/2 oz Daron Calvados
1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1 oz Campari
1/2 oz Crème de Cacao
1 pinch Salt

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I met up at Estragon. After perusing bartender Sahil Mehta's drink notebook, I selected a Calvados-mezcal split spirits cocktail. Sahil explained that he made this first for Markeya a/k/a Dr. Foodie who loves bitter. Since apple brandy and agave pair so well together such as in the Spanish Caravan and the Campari-cacao-salt did as well in the Stagecoach Mary, I was definitely game to try this. The recipe was unnamed, but since the French apple brandy outweighed the Mexican spirit here, I dubbed this one the Zaragoza after General Ignacio Zaragoza who defeated a much larger and better equipped French army at Puebla de Los Angeles during the French-Mexican War. It is this battle on May 5th, 1862, that Cinco de Mayo celebrates.
The Zaragoza began with chocolate and orange herbal aromas. Next, an apple and orange sip gave way to smoky mezcal and chocolate flavors on the swallow. Here, the salt really cut back on the Campari's bitter notes and helped to bring out the amaro's orange ones more.