The Fire Ruby Cocktail

The Fire Ruby Cocktail and ingredients

A Smoky and Spicy Twist on a Classic Cocktail

I realize I haven’t posted any cocktails yet! That’s one thing I used to do on my old company’s channel #spirits-chat and kind of miss.

This is a cocktail I haven’t had in a while because I’ve been out of Scrappy’s Fire Tincture for a little while.

Inspired by The Last Word

It evolved from The Last Word Cocktail, which is one of my favorite classic recipes. It’s got an herbal bitterness from the Green Chartreuse, a bit of sweetness from the maraschino liqueur, and is a bit boozy without being too harsh. Replace the gin with mezcal to add a smoky character, and then add several dashes (or to taste) of the aforementioned Scrappy’s Fire Tincture for some heat. I happen to use locally-made Cherry Liqueur from Scratch Distilling which has a natural cherry color that overpowers the normally greenish-tinged cocktail. Thus, we have what I call the “Fire Ruby” (an homage to the Emerald cocktail at Thai Ku).

I changed the proportions from the classic formulation and used equal parts “Chartreuse”, cherry liqueur, and lime juice. I find typical maraschino liqueur to be a touch sweet, so I like to dial it back for cocktails like this, or others in the vein of The Last Word. The Scratch Distilling version is already a bit less sweet and more cherry flavored, so you could stick with equal parts mezcal and cherry liqueur if you pick up a bottle and want to amp up the cherry flavor.

Classic Chartreuse has been in short supply ever since the pandemic, but there are lots of great alternatives out there. One of my favorites is Faccia Brutto Centerbe, as well as Pagès Verveine du Velay Verte, but this time around I tried a new one: Luxardo Del Santo, which is a very reasonably priced alternative (and has a gorgeous bottle).

For mezcal, I like Trader Joe’s brand–it’s a good price and works great for cocktails. If you like your cocktails a bit more boozy, turn the mezcal up a notch.

The Recipe

  • 1 oz mezcal
  • 3/4 oz Scratch Cherry Liqueur
  • 3/4 oz “Chartreuse”
  • 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
  • a few dashes (or several, if you like it hot) of Scrappy’s Fire Tincture

Shake over ice, strain, and serve up!