El Alquimista: A Handshake Between Fernet and Bacanora
How one of the first drinks I made at Bar Comala displays my devotion to the ruthlessly bitter Italian digestif.
By Daniel Estrada
When I became the bar manager at Bar Comala, I’ll admit I had a little bit of imposter syndrome. Having recently come from a space that wasn’t as… for lack of better wording… elegant or craft as Comala, I knew it was important to go back to the structure of time-honored classics when I began designing drinks here.
El Alquimista is one of the first drinks I created for the menu, which is loosely structured around two things—a Hanky Panky and my love for anything with Fernet in it. It’s making a comeback to the menu this week after workshopping it with my regulars over time, who have all wondered after sipping it: “Why haven’t I tried something like this before?”
In line with the Hanky Panky’s formula of equal-parts gin (I’m using a London Dry), sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino), and Fernet Branca, El Alquimista has all of this and more—Strega as a yellow chartreuse substitute and Mazot bacanora.
Bacanora is a type of mezcal from Sonora, and on the nose, it’s got funk—almost like a hard parmesan cheese. But it’s also floral with some slight botanical notes. At the time, during my first few months, I had been tasting through our selections with our bar manager Mau, who was my source of information along with my own outside studies. I remember tasting this with him and thinking, “Whoa. That’s crazy.” But I always kept coming back to it.
El Alquimista has so many layers. It’s complex. The Fernet Branca accentuates the drink’s botanical notes. The first thing you smell coming through this drink is the funkiness of the Mazot, but then on the palate itself, the cocktail, it’s like an alchemy of all these flavors and it’s just a layering of everything. And it’s just a smooth transition of all these layers. You taste this all the way through. It’s definitely one of my favorite drinks I’ve made for the bar.
El Alquimista was a way for me to include Fernet in a drink, which is my personal requirement for any menu I’m creating drinks for. But secondly, it’s a way for me to change people’s minds about mezcal and its flavor profiles. Let’s be real—not everyone can drink mezcal straight. But if we could present it in a way that people love it and come back to it, then we’re doing what we should be doing here.
Recipe
1 oz. Cocchi Rossa
1/2 oz. dry gin
1/2 oz. mezcal (we used Mazat bacanora)
1/4 oz. Strega
1/4 oz. Fernet Branca
dash of saline solution (salt water)
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass.