Naked and Famous
Four equal parts of mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime shake into a smoky, bittersweet balancing act.
Ingredients
- Mezcal22.5 ml
- Yellow Chartreuse22.5 ml
- Aperol22.5 ml
- Lime juice, freshly squeezed22.5 ml
- Lime, to garnish (optional)1 wheel
Method
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
- Measure the mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and freshly squeezed lime juice into the shaker.
- Shake hard for 10–15 seconds, until the shaker is ice-cold and frosted.
- Double-strain through a Hawthorne and a fine-mesh strainer into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime wheel, if you like, and serve at once.
Credit Joaquín Simó, Death & Co, New York
About this drink
Naked and Famous was created by Joaquín Simó at Death & Co in New York in 2011, as a kind of illegitimate child of the classic Last Word and Sam Ross's Paper Plane, conceived, as he put it, in the mountains of Oaxaca. The equal-parts recipe is the whole point: no ingredient is allowed to dominate, and the result is a drink that smokes, smells of herbs and bites with bitterness and citrus all at once. In 2020 it took its well-deserved place on the IBA's official list of cocktails.
Questions and answers
What makes Naked and Famous a modern classic?
Four ingredients in equal parts (mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime) create a surprisingly balanced drink that mixes smoke, herbs, bitter orange and acidity without any single flavour taking over.
Can you use green Chartreuse instead of yellow?
You can, but green is stronger and more bitter, so the drink turns out sharper and less sweet than the intended balance. Yellow is the right route if you can find it.
