The last five years have witnessed a revival of sorts. The final decade of the 20th century was the worst among a succession lukewarm efforts in mixology. In many ways, the country that invented the cocktail never truly recovered from its failed experiment in Prohibition

The last five years have witnessed a revival of sorts. The final decade of the 20th century was the worst among a succession lukewarm efforts in mixology. In many ways, the country that invented the cocktail never truly recovered from its failed experiment in Prohibition. The 1990s and early 2000s were a capstone of crap, with bartenders concocting ever sweeter swills of flavored vodka and bright, sugary mixer. Apple-flavored vodka and glowing-green apple syrup? An Appletini! Peach-flavored vodka, peach schnapps, peach syrup, and a floating cube of peach jello? No, thank you.

Times are changing. Vodka, neutral and boring, is stepping aside in favor of spirits with flavor, character, and a sense of place. Cocktails are crafted not to maximize sweetness, but to aim for balance. Bitters, the once all-but-forgotten key ingredient to the original cocktail, are making a return in numerous forms. Today, artisanal mixologists are crafting drinks both from the golden era of cocktails, before prohibition, and of their own creation.

Perhaps surprising, Boston (along with, not surprising, NYC) is at the forefront of the craft cocktail revival, starting with the greatly-missed B-Side Lounge, and carrying over to Green St, Craigie on Main, and Eastern Standard. These bars take cocktails seriously, with top-notch mixologists crafting quality drinks and providing excellent service. The ultimate manifestation of this might be Drink, in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, a bar dedicated to craft cocktails and nothing else. They don’t have a cocktail menu; your bartender works with you to find what you want. They make a lot of their inputs from scratch—visit and you might see folks squeezing fresh juices or stemming fresh herbs, many of which they grow themselves. I’m not even sure they have vodka.

One of Drink’s top mixologists, Misty Kalkofen, has created what is surely an instant classic. Smokey mezcal is paired with addictive St-Germain, the spicy vermouth Punt e Mes, and a spot of lemon juice. This, the Maximilian Affair, is Misty’s recipe.

Maximilian Affair Cocktail

At home, I make no changes to Misty’s perfect recipe, but I do modify the presentation. Misty serves her creation in a cocktail glass, ungarnished. I prefer mine on the rocks, in an old fashioned glass, garnished with a lemon twist. The cocktail glass is fine, but I wouldn’t deviate from authenticity if I felt the ice did not enhance the drink. Try both and you decide.

I am not the first to praise Misty’s original creation, but as a Bostonian I was likely among the first to experience it. The drink is featured in Food & Wine’s enjoyable Cocktails ’09 as well as in a Journal article on the fortunate demise of vodka. Note the Journal article contains a Maximilian recipe that is changed from Misty’s original; what follows is her precise proportions.

Makes 1 drink.

Ingredients:

1 ounce mezcal, preferably a smoky, single-village mezcal such as Del Maguey
1 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur
1/2 ounce Punt e Mes
1/4 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon twist, to garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes. Add to the shaker the mezcal, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, Punt e Mes, and lemon juice. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Let the shaker rest until the outside starts to sweat.

Fill an old fashioned glass with large ice cubes. Strain the contents of the shaker into the glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy.

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Maximilian Affair Cocktail