Recipe

• 1 oz Mezcal
• 1.25 oz Spiced Apple Wine (or 1 oz rich Sweet Vermouth)
• .75 oz Cardamoro
• Garnish: Apple Slice and Smoked Rosemary

Add all spirits to a mixing glass. Stir with ice until chilled and diluted. Strain over fresh ice. Add apple slice and light the end of a sprig of rosemary on fire. Put out the flame and let it smoke.

* * * *

Lent begins in ashes, but it doesn’t end there. It moves through wilderness, temptation, and sorrow—not to leave us in dust, but to lead us toward resurrection. Lent reminds us of a bittersweet truth: that our sinfulness is a necessary ingredient for our redemption.​

The ancient theologians called it felix culpa—”fortunate fall”—the idea that humanity’s fall led to a greater good: the coming of Christ and the outpouring of grace. In other words, it is better to have been lost and found than to never have been lost at all. In other other words: “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

As the Exsultet proclaims in the Easter Vigil: “O happy fall that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer.”​

So let us raise a glass to this wonderful mystery with this Lenten Negroni. It brings together the sweetness of Eden, the smoke of exile, and the herbal bitterness of toil and grace.

The first sip greets you with the smoky depth and vegetal complexity of mezcal, reminiscent of the Garden and darkness of sin. The spiced apple wine and garnish call to mind that original temptation, now made sweet by Christ. Grounding the drink is Cardamaro, bringing an earthy bitterness evoking images of thorns, toil, and grace. Lastly, the flaming rosemary symbolizes both the flaming sword preventing re-entry to Eden and holy incense granting us entry into the presence of God.

This is a complex, surprisingly light drink with lots of layers if you let yourself sit with it. May it serve as a sensory reflection on the journey from fall to redemption, reminding us that even in our brokenness, grace abounds.

Ingredient Notes

Negronis are great. Just three ingredients. Use whatever Mezcal you want, but we are a Del Maguey Mezcal house. For the Spiced Apple Wine, I used one from a local winery, Chaddsford Winery. I appreciate the symbolism using it here, but I’ll be honest, the flavor doesn’t stand up too strongly to the other flavors (hence the heavier pour) so you really can use most any dark, rich, sweet vermouth in this (like Carpano Antica–avoid a light fruity vermouth).

Cardamaro is a wine-based amaro offers that offers a gentle bitterness and herbal complexity (fun fact: it’s made with cardoon and thistle, not cardamom). It is a dark, earthy flavor though not overpowering. If you don’t have it, use some other darker-yet-lighter amaro like Amaro Montenegro or Cynar, though it will alter the flavor profile somewhat.

Garnish: To smoke the rosemary, light the end of the sprig until it smolders, then out the flame out and place the smoking sprig in the glass to infuse the aroma. Of course you don’t have to do this, but it’s a nice visual and lovely smell while you drink. Use whatever apple slice you want.

Recipe Card