Is there a Doctor in the house?

Dr. Faust.

Recently we looked at the tropical Doctor Funk cocktail and I promised you some variations of it. When embarking upon a variation voyage the first thing we consider is a change of base spirit. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but its always worth a bash. A couple of years back I created the Doctor Tulp by using Veld tulip vodka instead of the rum, shaking with crushed ice and using a reduced dose of absinthe as an aromatic float and it proved quite delightful. This time let’s make something a little more diabolical. Enter Doctor Faust (cue puff of smoke). Mezcal, as well as having a striking flavour afinity with absinthe, conjures the right image of smoke and brimstone and the labeling on some of the bottles does no harm either. There’s not much more to be said other than that a straight substitution of mezcal for rum works right out of the box. Plying a middle ground in the preparation by simply shaking all the ingredients with a mix of cubed and crushed ice simplifies matters and gives a more concentrated outcome which suits this iteration well. We can skip the Tiki garnish as well and leave this looking more medicinal. Now we can all have a little taste of the underworld without selling our soul to the devil.

Dr. Faust.

1.5oz / 45ml Good quality mezcal (I used Los Siete Misterios Doba-Yej).

0.75oz / 22ml fresh lime juice.

0.5oz / 15ml grenadine (preferably home-made).

1 tsp / 5ml absinthe.

1oz / 30ml soda water.

Shake hard with a mixture of cubed and crushed ice and pour unstrained into a DoF glass.

Toast Marlowe and Goethe.

Watch this space for more Doctor Funk variations.