Name: Succulent Blood
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Mezcal; 30 ml Blood orange juice; 7.5 ml Cinnamon syrup; 5 ml Falernum liqueur; 5 ml Lime juice

Succulent Blood
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Photographed in a Waterford Mixology Coupe Clear

Ingredients:
2 oz	Del Maguey Vida Clásico Mezcal
1 oz	Blood orange juice
¹⁄₄ oz	Monin Cinnamon Syrup
¹⁄₆ oz	Difford's Falernum liqueur
¹⁄₆ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of dehydrated blood orange slice wheel.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with orange slice.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Mezcal and blood orange juice with sweet spice added with cinnamon syrup and clove-rich falernum.

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History:

Created in February 2014 by yours truly after misreading the recipe for the Sangre Dulce cocktail by Regina Butler at Blackbird Bar in San Francisco. I used Velvet Falernum in place of Fernet Vallet but the resulting drink tasted good. Then, in May 2022, updated to add a splash of lime juice thanks to a comment by Ulysses Grand.

Mezcal is distilled from agave plants which are categorised 'Succulents' - plants which are thickened and fleshy, allowing them to retain water in arid climates - hence, coupled with blood orange juice, this cocktail's name.

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Succulent Blood contains 181 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
17.86% alc./vol. (17.86° proof)
19.2 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Ruth Harvey

21st March at 19:56

Made with cinnamon syrup created for my birthday by a dear friend. Delicious!

Peter McCarthy

21st October 2024 at 01:05

I made this with Del Maguey Vida Clasico, Monin Cinnamon syrup, & Velvet Falernum. Earthy smokiness of the mezcal is front and center, with the blood orange juice balancing things out, and the rest adding some subtle complexity. Tasty if you like Mezcal.

Rémi Dejaeghère

4th April 2024 at 18:38

Being found of blood orange juice, I wanted to taste cocktail recipes with it. We tried the Blood Orange Margarita yesterday and were disappointed. Tried this one today, heart full of hope. I did two versions : one with falernum and one with bénédictine as Deyan Kavrakov suggested (my girlfriend loves bénédictine). She liked both, I was disappointed by both. I find it too juicy and sweet (mostly due to a lack of acidity IMO) and too mezcal forward (I used Del Maguey Vida). I'll keep trying !

Deyan Kavrakov

9th March 2024 at 09:24

Excellent cocktail. Mezcal(or Reposado Tequila) and Cinnamon are established combination. I agree with G.M.G. about the distant lemongrass (Thai) echo. Being wonderful, as this cocktail is, I kindly suggest using 10ml Benedictine DOM instead of Falernum: outstanding.

G. M. Genovese

2nd March 2024 at 18:54

A unique drink worth trying... My falernum was a haphazard mushing of 2 cloves, 4 lime peels, 6 thumbnail slices of ginger, and 15 ml amaretto, muddled to death before adding the other ingredients. My orange was Cara Cara, which is flavorful for sure but different enough from a blood orange to skew the flavors... I found this drink rather Vietnamese?!? - lemongrass, spicy green chile, sweet citrus... I'm very curious what y'all came up with.