Naked and
Famous

Four ingredients in exactly equal measures: 2.25 cl mezcal, 2.25 cl yellow Chartreuse, 2.25 cl Aperol and 2.25 cl fresh lime juice. Each component has its own role. The mezcal brings smoke and agave, the yellow Chartreuse honey and herbs, the Aperol bitter orange, and the lime juice the acidity that holds everything together. There is no sugar syrup: the sweetness comes from the Chartreuse and Aperol. Because the balance is so precise, measure each amount with one of our jiggers.

Choose an espadín, as prescribed by the IBA. Espadín is the agave variety used to make most mezcal, and it gives a distinct but not overpowering smokiness. That smoke develops when the agave hearts are roasted in an underground pit before being fermented and distilled. A relatively mild mezcal such as Casamigos Mezcal keeps the drink approachable. A very smoky bottle will push the Aperol and Chartreuse into the background. A mezcal around 40 percent ABV works best with the equal parts.

The recipe calls for yellow Chartreuse, and there is a reason for that. At 55 percent ABV, green Chartreuse is stronger, sharper and more herbal, and in equal parts it would overpower the mezcal and Aperol. The yellow version is softer and sweeter, with a distinct honey note, creating a bridge between the smoke and the bitter orange. Both are made by Carthusian monks in France according to a secret recipe. If you only have green Chartreuse, use 1.5 cl and add 0.75 cl honey syrup.

The three share the same structure: four equal parts, shaken and served without ice in a coupe. The Last Word uses gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime, with a fresh, herbal taste. The Paper Plane combines bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and lemon, making it rounder and more bittersweet. The Naked and Famous borrows from both: the Chartreuse and lime from the first, and the Aperol from the second. The mezcal makes it the smokiest of the three. Once you know one, you can make the other two with ease.

Equal parts make scaling up easy. For eight glasses, combine 18 cl mezcal, 18 cl yellow Chartreuse, and 18 cl Aperol in a bottle and refrigerate it. Juice the lime, 18 cl for eight glasses, just an hour beforehand and keep it separate, because it quickly loses its freshness. Shake two glasses at a time: 13.5 cl of the mix and 4.5 cl lime juice, for twelve seconds with plenty of ice. This keeps the dilution per glass consistent, so the last glass tastes like the first.

Expect about 17 percent in the glass. The 2.25 cl of 40 percent mezcal provides 0.9 cl of pure alcohol, the roughly 40 percent yellow Chartreuse also provides about 0.9 cl, and the 11 percent Aperol adds another 0.25 cl. Together, that is just over 2 cl, diluted into a glass of about 12 cl after shaking. That is more than one and a half standard drinks. Because the Aperol and lime juice make the drink taste fresh, it drinks lighter than it is.