Naked and Famous
The Naked and Famous is a wonderful modern riff on the prohibition era cocktail, the Last Word. With equal parts mezcal, lime juice, yellow chartreuse, and Aperol, the nuance of this cocktail framework is in the selection of ingredients to balance each other. Joaquín Simó (of Death and Co. fame) crafted this cocktail that pays homage to its predecessor without becoming simply another facsimile. For starters, mezcal can be notoriously overpowering often being described as ‘smoky tequila.’ Admittedly, it is a rather bold choice for an equal parts cocktail, however, the interplay with the other bold flavors is surprisingly successful. One of the more intriguing ingredients featured in the Naked and Famous is the herbal liqueur, yellow chartreuse; it happens to be one of two variants made by and named after the monks of the Grande Chartreuse monastery in France each with their own distinct (albeit herbal) flavor. And similar to its use in the Paper Plane, Aperol helps brighten up the overall flavor without entirely overwhelming the cocktail. Due to the inclusion of citrus, conventional wisdom suggests shaking the cocktail and serving it “up” in a chilled coupe cocktail glass. Unlike the majority of the cocktails featured here, the original recipe does not specify a particular garnish, but a lime peel or wedge is fairly common. But don’t take my word for it, make one and try it yourself!
Naked and Famous
In your shaker, combine the lime juice, Aperol, yellow chartreuse, and mezcal.
0.75 oz of Lime Juice
0.75 oz of Aperol
0.75 oz of Yellow Chartreuse
0.75 oz of Mezcal
Add ice to your shaker and shake until it develops a frost. Double-strain the contents (by pouring the contents from the shaker through a fine mesh strainer) into your chilled coupe glass. No garnish unless preferred with a lime peel.
TIP(S):
Chill your cocktail coupe — to extend the life of your Naked and Famous, place your cocktail coupe in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can place ice water in your cocktail coupe cocktail glass during the preparation.
