la savane

3/4 oz Rhum Agricole (Rhum Clement Premiere Canne)
3/4 oz Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Mondays ago, I recalled the Metexa from the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book and decided to riff on it. Instead of the classic's tequila base, I kept the agave theme with some mezcal and split it with rhum agricole for that spirit paired well with Swedish punsch in the Sleeping with Strangers. I also adjusted the ratios to make it more of a cocktail instead of an aperitif. For a name, I dubbed this one the La Savane after a garden and park on Martinique. In the glass, La Savane conjured an orange, vegetal, caramel, and smoke bouquet to the nose. Next, apricot and grapefruit notes on the sip blossomed into grassy, smoky, tea, and vegetal flavors on the swallow.