gun metal blue

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Fidencio)
1/2 oz Blue Curaçao (1/2 oz Cointreau + 1 drop Blue Food Coloring)
1/4 oz Peach Liqueur (Mathilde)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Bitter Cinnamon Syrup (*) (1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup + 1/8 oz Suze)

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and float an orange coin twist skin-side down. Gently fill the coin with a few drops of overproof rum (Don Q 151) and ignite.
(*) Supercall provided the recipe of 4 cinnamon sticks, 2 oz gentian root, 4 cups sugar, and 2 cups water. Break up cinnamon sticks and heat in a pot until they become aromatic. Add the rest of the ingredients, heat until the sugar has dissolved at a low simmer, and let cool.

Two Saturdays ago, I was perusing Amanda Schuster's New York Cocktails and I spotted the Gun Metal Blue. According to Difford's Guide, the drink was created in 2015 by Mike Shain and Nicholas Bennett at Porchlight in New York City, and Supercall attributed their inspiration to a trip to New Orleans where the bright green Hand Grenade that is drank up and down Bourbon Street caught their attention. Since the actual Hand Grenade recipe is proprietary (and probably rather artificial these days like Pat O'Brien's Hurricane), they delved into the flavors and picked out peach and citrus notes. The rest morphed into a Mezcal Margarita of sorts.
The Gun Metal Blue met the nose with peach and orange notes along with a hint of smoke. Next, lime, orange, and orchard fruit on the sip spread into smoky mezcal and peach flavors on the swallow with a cinnamon finish.