Aphrodite’s Tears

• 1.5 oz. mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
• 0.5 oz. Courvoisier Rosé liqueur
• 0.5 oz. Destillaré Intense Pomegranate
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice
• 0.25 oz. agave nectar
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 dash cardamom bitters

Shake with ice then strain into coupe. Garnish with three drops of rose water.

This started with the new Copper & King’s pomegranate liqueur I had picked up. I anchored it with mezcal then added the lemon for acidity. The liqueur itself is not very sweet (comparatively), so the agave nectar came next. The rosé? Honestly, I had it on hand and thought it would mellow things out. It did. And the bitters completed it (with the Peychaud’s also adding color).

The rose water drops are the tears. One version of the myth is that roses are red from the tears she wept for the death of Adonis. Rethinking now, I might add the rose water to the main and then drop in the Peychaud’s as garnish. But I won’t cry over this arrangement.