Old Mexican Friend

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (63 ratings)
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    Old Mexican Friend

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Old Mexican Friend image

Photographed in a Retro Coupe

Ingredients:
1 1⁄2 oz Del Maguey Vida Clásico Mezcal
1⁄2 oz Strucchi Red Bitter (Campari-style liqueur)
1⁄2 oz Elderflower liqueur
3⁄4 oz Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of grapefruit zest twist.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS grapefruit zest twist over cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Bittersweet and sweet 'n' sour with smoky mezcal, zesty grapefruit and faint floral elderflower, particularly on the long smoky finish.

View readers' comments

History:

A riff on Jim Meehan's usually gin-based Old Friend created in October 2020 by yours truly as a result of a comment left by a Discerning Drinker on our Old Friend page saying, "Swapped out gin for mezcal and would highly recommend for the more adventurous."

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Old Mexican Friend contains 177 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 19.34% alc./vol. (19.34° proof)
  • 18.9 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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Showing 5 comments for Old Mexican Friend.
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Cassandra Adams’ Avatar Cassandra Adams
8th August 2024 at 18:30
I added 5 ml of lime and some salt, and it improved it for me. Delicious either way though!
2
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Gregg Harbaugh’s Avatar Gregg Harbaugh
12th July 2022 at 23:33
my suggestion is to replace the campari with aperol...cuts the bitterness...but, overall...great drink
1
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Gregg Harbaugh’s Avatar Gregg Harbaugh
18th July 2022 at 22:10
tried 3:2:2:1 with mezcal, aperol, grapefruit & elderflower...still has the bitter bite with the smokiness, and the grapefruit holds it together nicely...I like having variations of the same drink for different tastes
1
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William Mulder’s Avatar William Mulder
31st December 2021 at 18:45
I like it, but it almost feels like it’s missing something. Maybe a salt rim?
4
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Jeff Newcastle’s Avatar Jeff Newcastle
27th November 2021 at 19:26
Haven’t been able to find anything new and special for quite a while now until this one. Simply delicious and far too easy to drink.
2
reply
John Cunningham’s Avatar John Cunningham
14th November 2020 at 10:12
Surely you should have called this Old Amigo!
6
reply
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
14th November 2020 at 19:40
I should have! That was a missed opportunity.
1
reply
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