Now for Cocktails in the Park with George (or Sunday in the Park with Cocktails — take your pick) we move out of the red/brown pigments that were on Seurat’s palette to the yellows. The first, iron oxide yellow, is a mustardy color that I couldn’t find a direct hexidecimal value for, though I did find mention of its relation to yellow or gold ochre with the value #CC7722.
More importantly, what’s in it? As odd as the name is (could you imagine ordering that in a bar?), you will find nothing particularly odd within its ingredients.
Iron Oxide Yellow
- 1.5 oz. Reposada tequila (El Tesoro)
- 1.0 oz. Lillet Blanc
- 0.5 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
- 0.25 oz. Mezcal (Del Maguey San Luis del Rio)
- 0.25 oz. lemon juice
- 2 dashes Xocolatl Mole bittters
Shake and strain into cocktail glass.
Reposado refers to a rested tequila as opposed to a silver or white tequila, meaning the spirit was aged from two months to a year in oak barrels, which establishes the base to the cocktail’s coloring (obviously important to this drink). The light yellow Lillet contributes a mild bit of sweet and citrus notes with a slight bitterness. The Chartreuse, yellow of course in favor over the green, offers an herbal bite, while the mezcal adds to the agave taste of the tequila with some more smoky depth. The lemon juice, which I personally use very sparingly as I always find it overwhelms my palette (and I don’t think I have a very delicate or subtle palette, but lemon juice kills what I do have) brings some tartness and the acid to the drink. The mole bitters just rounds out the whole thing for me.
Not an appealing name, I grant you, but a nice agave sipper.