[familiar creature]

3/4 oz Madre Mezcal
3/4 oz Amaro Nonino
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I made an overnight trip to Saratoga Springs, New York. Andrea had suggested Albany, but I countered with Saratoga Springs since I had just given a talk that covered the city's cocktail history but had never been. While it was a challenge to find places that were open on Superbowl Sunday, we did go to the one brewery that was open and then an excellent champagne bar. When we lamented to the bartender at the second bar that cocktail places like Hamlet & the Ghost were closed due to the sporting event, he countered with the information that their sister establishment, Familiar Creature that recently opened, was a possibility that night; moreover, the brother-sister duo who were instrumental in the Hamlet & the Ghost program were now at the new spot. For a drink, I asked for a bartender's choice from Gerry Akins who mixed up a mezcal riff on a Paper Plane that I dubbed Familiar Creature after the three overlapping ingredients as well as the name of the establishment. With mezcal in the mix instead of Bourbon, the whole combination was indeed familiar but it took on a new life and direction of its own. In the glass, the cocktail gave forth a lemon, caramel, vegetal, orange, and smoke bouquet to the nose. Next, caramel and lemon notes on the sip soared into caramel, orange, and smoky mezcal flavors on the swallow.