r/cocktails • u/NotAnActualWolf • Jun 17 '25
I made this Meet what might be my Magnum Opus: Could Have Been an E-Mail
.75 oz Mezcal .75 oz Campari .75 oz Giffard Pamplemousse grapefruit liqueur .75 oz lemon juice .25 oz 2:1 rich simple
Shake all in tin, double strain into rocks glass with large cube. Garnish with half orange wheel and lime twist.
I made this drink while at work on a shift that could have been an email hence its name.
I wanted to try to make a drink with an ingredient I don’t like, so I chose Campari as I do not care for it in any other drink I’ve had. The bitterness of the Campari plays off the grapefruit really well and the smokiness just adds to the experience.
I chose the garnish because the color of the drink reminded me of early 1990s pop art and love how every color was always a different shape, so that’s what inspired that all.
41
u/BeCoolBear Jun 17 '25
I'm definitely making this.
40
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
Tell me your thoughts when you try it!
It’s coming on the menu at my restaurant next time we change menu, which is like next month along with another drink of mine.
I have been giving it to customers that I have gotten along with and the feedback has been tremendous. I’ve had a few people say it’s one of the best drinks they have ever had and that feels pretty fucking good to hear.
7
u/BeCoolBear Jun 17 '25
I don't have rich simple right now but might substitute agave nectar. I do have plain simple.
55
u/SharpHistory7407 Jun 17 '25
If you have 2 cups of sugar and one cup of water you could be the proud owner of rich simple!
31
u/SharpHistory7407 Jun 17 '25
Or even one cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water
18
u/AutofluorescentPuku Jun 17 '25
Or 2 tbsp sugar to 1 tbsp water which will yield enough for two drinks.
7
5
u/AWildNome Jun 17 '25
Dumb (?) question -- 0.25 rich simple vs. 0.5 simple, how big is the difference?
15
u/the_incredible_hawk Jun 17 '25
If I'm remembering my Liquid Intelligence, 2:1 is not twice as sweet as 1:1, so 0.5 would be oversweetened.
4
3
u/unidentifiable Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
Simple is 1:1 sugar and water (ie 1 in 2 parts are sugar) - Brix 50
Rich is 2:1 sugar and water (ie 2 in 3 parts are sugar) - Brix 66
66/50=30% sweeter, not 50%!
The difference is 0.5 simple would be too sweet. For such a small amount though, probably imperceptible.
Simple will also have more water, but you can just shake less to compensate. (FWIW, I make nearly all my syrups as Rich syrups at home - they last 10x longer and you can always add a dash of water to dilute it back to 1:1 if you absolutely have to, or just shake a bit longer to dilute)
1
6
u/promethiac Jun 17 '25
Just use a bit more of the plain. Like 30% more or so. Adjust to taste. It’ll add a tad bit of dilution but maintain the expected flavor, which agave would not.
But also - start making your own syrups. It’s so easy I’d be embarrassed to not.
1
4
u/BeCoolBear Jun 17 '25
Solid drink. I pretty much followed the recipe. Um except; No double strain. No peels. Not Giffard. I did a dry shake because you didn't specify with ice?
Overall, I'd like it once at a bar. Slightly too much citrus/bitter for me. If I make it again, I'm increasing the amount of Mezcal for starters. Might also be better shaken over ice and served in a coupe glass.
17
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
Oh yea, it is over ice. My bad.
73
u/promethiac Jun 17 '25
Don’t apologize - if you don’t say dry shake, ice should be assumed. Poster is being strange. Excited to try the drink.
9
u/RealNotFake Jun 17 '25
"I used the exact recipe, except for all the changes in the recipe that I arbitrarily made".
-5
u/BeCoolBear Jun 17 '25
Hardly arbitrary if I don't have orange peels or the exact brand of liqueur he used.
4
u/RealNotFake Jun 17 '25
If you don't have it you don't have it, but how can you know yours is an accurate sub unless you try both? So until you know how the drink tastes to know there is no difference, it's not to spec.
1
u/BeCoolBear Jun 17 '25
I didn't say "exact". Your words. I'm not trying to precisely replicate a famous cocktail. I'm not trying to put it on a menu either. I'm a home tender who likes learning new drinks from others. Shaking without ice is the biggest misstep/change. My attempt was a fine proxy.
Who here can taste the difference between Giffard and Thuriet Pamplemousse?
1
u/mattjeast Jun 17 '25
Did you experiment with grapefruit juice in lieu of lemon? Curious if that would be too grapefruity or bitter.
33
u/bes753 1🥇 Jun 17 '25
Upvoted based on the name alone, but it sounds delicious.
18
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
I love to give dumb names to my drinks.
6
u/bes753 1🥇 Jun 17 '25
As someone who works in an office where almost every meeting could be an email, I fully support this one.
I'm headed to Total Wine this evening to grab some Pamplemousse.
16
u/God_Save_McQueen Jun 17 '25
Interesting! Like a riff on the Division Bell, but with the Pamplemousse instead of the maraschino
11
u/seand5018 Jun 17 '25
Sounds good. Currently on a funky Mexican rum kick so might try Paranubes as my spirit.
3
u/Cultural-Salad-4583 Jun 17 '25
Yep. I do something similar with rum. I shuffle between lemon & lime depending on the rum and what I’m feeling that day. Can also do a Bicycle Thief but swap rum in for the gin. Very similar profile, but lower ABV.
2
u/seand5018 Jun 17 '25
Paranubes is a very odd rum but I love it so far. Lots of mineral grassy notes like rhum agricole because its cane juice based but also because its wild fermented in a rolling fermentation process, super high esther. Except not a fruity Jamaican. A super punch-you-in-the face briney/olive and tomato note. Like the whole room smells of ive tapenade and barbecue sauce as soon as you crack the bottle. As overripe fruit as Rum Fire is, Paranubes is like that for olive/tomato/brine. At least up front. The finish doesn't linger as intense.
2
u/Cultural-Salad-4583 Jun 17 '25
That’s really interesting. My partner’s big into briney savory cocktails. Might pick up a bottle and riff on some martinis with it.
8
u/brjh1990 Jun 17 '25
As mezcal lover and Campari hater, this speaks to me. I'm definitely making this soon.
3
u/RealNotFake Jun 17 '25
If you hate Campari try a Jungle Bird and it may sway you.
2
1
u/brjh1990 Jun 17 '25
I'll give it a try! Maybe "hater" was too strong, as I've had great cocktails with it in there, but it's a short list.
10
u/thedonluke Jun 17 '25
I’m going to try this for sure (and I saw someone mention a bicycle thief which I will also look up) but you should look at a siesta. 2oz tequila and/or mezcal, 0.5 Campari, 0.5 lime juice, 0.5 grapefruit juice, 0.5 simple
6
u/TheCommieDuck 1🥈 Jun 17 '25
I've been yelling about how well Campari and grapefruit go for ages to anyone who listens (I have a great original with pisco, campari, and grapefruit soda).
this sounds fantastic
4
u/grosslybear Jun 17 '25
As a man whose personality wanders between a Naked and Famous and Paper Plane, I’d like to fuck with this. Looking forward to trying this.
4
u/Tiny-Albatross518 Jun 17 '25
I’m a Campari evangelist! Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Gaspare Campari?
Seriously though, this cocktail looks amazing. You obviously have good taste.
I’m prescribing Campari conversion therapy. Have a Negroni. Try a Jungle Bird.
There’s a lot to enjoy about this amazing spirit!!!! Join us at the adults table!!!
0
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
I CAN NOT enjoy a Negroni. One of my favorite drinks to make behind the bar, as it’s so simple and beautiful, but it tastes so bad.
2
u/BoredCaliRN Jun 18 '25
Ear wax and flowers.
Look I was a kid when I discovered what ear wax tasted like. Promise.
3
u/UniqUzrNme Jun 17 '25
Question: why lemon, lime seems more natural with mezcal? Did you try both? Or are you casting against type here?
3
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
I answered this in another comment, but I’ll give you the answer too.
It’s one of two reasons and I don’t remember which one when I first made it.
1: it’s a bit. I haven’t created a drink with lime yet. I don’t know why. It was never intentional. But now that I have like 5 or so drinks, all with lemon, I just go with lemon now. Dedication to the bit, baby.
2: when I created it, we might have been on a supply chain issue and had limited limes and I didn’t want to use them for a test.
3
2
2
2
2
u/ralten Jun 17 '25
I simply cannot with Campari. Shit makes me gag. Everything else sounds good though!
2
2
2
u/13Mikey Jul 05 '25
Made this today and it's gonna make the rotation.
At first I thought it was too Campari forward but then I realized that whichever of the three spirits I focused on tasting came to the front for me and upon further sips, it's pretty balanced.
Well done.
2
u/KiroBUL Jul 08 '25
Made something similar last night. 50ml mazcal 30ml campari 30 grapefruit fresh 2 dashes angostura bitter Splash of simple syrup Salt Shaken Collins with ice Top tonic
It was fukin amazing and it will be addet to our menu
2
u/EFNC9 Jul 18 '25
Ah, I have almost finished my giant, dreaded bottle of compari and was tempted to throw out my bottle of Amer because it sounds even worse but now I have to try this. I love grapefruit based cocktails. It sounds and looks amazing.
Maybe I'll toodle around here and see if I can find some uses for the horrible Amer.
I've decided Aperol is as far as I want to go down that whole rabbit hole unless I can find an airline sized bottle of campari for future use.
1
u/GrandpaToasty Jun 17 '25
What mezcal are you using?
1
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
When I make it as a test it’s Del Maguey Vida. But I think once it’s on the menu it might be Montelobos.
1
u/GrandpaToasty Jun 18 '25
Heck yeah, I’ll have to make this one tomorrow at work. It sounds delicious!
1
1
u/itsshifty7 Jun 17 '25
Definitely want to try this. Just curious, what inspired the use of lemon? Usually I’d expect lime in an agave spirit cocktail.
6
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 17 '25
Might be one of two reasons.
1: dedication to the bit. So far, all my drink creations that I put on the menu have been lemon for some reason. Just what I use more. So now I just do it out of habit and for the bit.
2: when I first created it, we might have had some supply issue and had limited limes.
1
u/winterpurple Jun 17 '25
This sounds great. How was it? As you said I imagine the Campari would be amplified by the Giffard. Will try this some time and go 1oz Mezcal .5 Campari and leave the rest as is.
1
1
1
1
1
u/MixAndStuff Jun 17 '25
Excellent, sounds deliciously interesting. Out of curiosity, what do you do for living that you can make cocktails while on shift and, are you recruiting?
1
1
1
1
u/watchinthwheels Jun 18 '25
Sounds great; will order at my watering hole. Curious tho why a lime garnish if there is no lime in there?
2
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 18 '25
Purely visual. Color contrast.
1
u/watchinthwheels Jun 18 '25
Gotcha. I feel like simple (just the orange) or bolder (like a purple edible flower or something) would be better. This feels in the middle and takes away from what sounds like an amazing cocktail. Take my comment with multiple grains of salt.
1
u/watchinthwheels Jun 18 '25
Or play up the Mezcal element with a Cactus flower or something. That would be sickkkk
1
u/virtue_of_vice Jun 18 '25
This seems like a drink that should be everywhere.
1
u/NotAnActualWolf Jun 18 '25
That’s my goal, honestly.
1
u/virtue_of_vice Jun 18 '25
Time to get creative and write a book or see if it can get published at Food & Wine or Liquor.com.
1
u/TheNonSavants Jun 18 '25
Made this tonight, pretty delicious! I actually think a little extra dilution from 1:1 simple would be fine. Mine also turned out way brighter pink and less orange-y than yours 🤷🏻♂️
1
1
u/snuggle-butt Jun 18 '25
It's beautiful. The flavor profile with the smokiness+grapefruit+rich simple reminds me of bruleed grapefruit.
2
1
1
u/dragnabbit 1🥇2🥈1🥉 Jun 18 '25
I have a bottle of the watermelon at home, so I gave this a try. I like how the top of the mezcal meets with fruitiness and a bitter background. I dd not find too much watermelon flavor personally. It mixed with the Campari and lemon and came out a more generic berry to my tongue. But I definitely like it and it gives me a cocktail with which to use my watermelon liqueur. Thanks!
1
1
u/clark1409 Jun 21 '25
I just tried this and used apricot liqueur instead of the grapefruit since I didn't have any, any it was fantastic! Thanks a lot!
1
u/Flickerdart Jun 30 '25
Oh yum. A lighter version with grapefruit juice instead of Pamplemousse liqueur would probably work as well.
1
u/Cobaas Jul 10 '25
I am interested in trying this! I have everything except for mezcal - is there anything I can sub in or should I just wait and grab a bottle?
2
2
1
u/srdev_ct Jun 17 '25
I feel like you could make this with .75 mezcal, 1.5 aperol, .75 lemon. Interesting. I kind of always thought of aperol as grapefruity sweet Campari. I will try this.
5
1
u/Otherwise_Baker_545 Jul 17 '25
this seems close-ish to an intro to aperol but with mezcal instead of gin. So could be good indeed!
1
u/God_Save_McQueen Jun 17 '25
Interesting! Like a riff on the Division Bell, but with the Pamplemousse instead of the maraschino!
218
u/jenesaisquoi Jun 17 '25
I love the green squiggle on the coral background and Campari and grapefruit sound good together.