a means to an end

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz Celery Syrup (*)
1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe with 1 oz soda water, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
(*) Celery stalks chopped and blended with a little water (2 oz for a medium head). The fine strained juice was mixed with an equal volume of sugar and stirred to dissolve without heat.
Two Mondays ago was my fourth Cocktail Lab night at Earl's Prudential out of the five week series. For a theme, I went with songs from the band Joy Division. One of the ingredients that I was tinkering with was a celery syrup made from the stalk's juice; the two drinks that inspired me here were Chez Henri's Lamplighter that utilized celery juice and simple syrup in a Bourbon Sour and Drink's Means of Preservation that paired celery bitters and St. Germain. Since celery bitters go rather well with agave distillates, I selected mezcal as the base and lime as the citrus to balance out the sugar content of the celery syrup and elderflower liqueur. Also to help lighten things up and fill up the larger than normal coupes at the bar, I added soda water to the mix. Keeping the Means of Preservation in mind, the Joy Division song A Means to an End seemed quite appropriate.