gusano rojo

1 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1 oz Campari
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with cayenne chili powder.Two Saturdays ago when I got home from my barshift, I was feeling creative. Perhaps it was spotting the cayenne chili powder on the shelf, but I decided to make a mashup of the Red Grasshopper with the Mezcal Negroni as Negroni Week 2023 was coming up. I dubbed the end result the Gusano Rojo which is the Red Chili Worm that grows on mezcal plants. Once garnished, the Gusano Rojo opened up with vegetal, red pepper, and smoke aromas. Next, honey and lime on the sip crawled into vegetal and bitter orange flavors on the swallow with increasing amount of pepper heat over time.