sleeping tiger

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida (Fosforo Ensemble)
3/4 oz Lime Juice (1/2 oz)
1/4 oz Ginger Syrup
1/4 oz Honey Syrup
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a cayenne pepper-Demerara sugar (1:4) rim, and garnish with a lime wheel (omit) and a light dusting of cayenne pepper. Two Sundays ago, I returned to Amanda Schuster's New York Cocktails book and spotted the Sleeping Tiger from Louis 649 in Manhattan that I had neglected to make over the years. This was Louis 649's most popular cocktail, and a year after they closed in 2014, the bar Mace opened in that spot. The concept with the honey-ginger aspect reminded me of agave Penicillin riffs like the Little Branch Cocktail perhaps crossed with mezcal-honey-cayanne recipes like the Dahlia's Revenge and my Lupe Velez. Once mixed, the Sleeping Tiger awoke with a pineapple, vegetal, and smoke aroma. Next, pineapple, honey, and lime notes on the sip stretched into smoky mezcal, pineapple, and ginger flavors on the swallow with a hint of pepper spice.