My grandfather used to say “The only folks who don’t make mistakes are the one’s who don’t do anything.” I was mistaken about this drink, so, clearly, I do things. That is how post hoc fallacies work, right? Or was that a non sequitur? I get so confused. I’m sticking with that sparkling wine theme, so in the spirit of some honest bubbles won’t you join me as we stand and make the Death in Oaxaca.

This drink comes to us from the mind of Leandro DiMonriva, host of The Educated Barfly and fella behind the bar at Cole’s French Dip in Los Angeles. He created this one as a mezcal brunch drink at the request of his wife. I assumed it was a riff on Ernest Hemingway’s “Death in the Afternoon” champagne and absinthe cocktail, but it turns out that it was actually inspired by the French 75. It’s got some of my favorite spirts in there, even if they top it with champagne at the end, so let’s make it and see how things turn out.

Grab your tins and pop in 1 ounce of mezcal, I chose Vida Del Maguey; 3/8 of an ounce of Green Chartreuse, 1/2 an once of fresh squeezed lime juice and 1/2 an ounce of agave syrup. Add ice and give it a good shake to the beat of Rodrigo y Gabriela rocking out to “Hanuman“, a great tune named for “a semidivine being of monkey-like form” in the Hindu religion, so now you know that. When your tins are well chilled, strain into a flute, even a stemless one and top with sparkling wine, I chose Burlwood Cellars Brut. Garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel and serve in a form as semi-divine as you are able to muster.

This one is sold as a “tart, refreshing take on the champagne cocktail” and I’d buy that. Insert the standard copy about it being light and airy that is required for every champagne drink we have made thus far. It really is wonderful though. Smoky mezcal paired with that herbal chartreuse, how could it not be? I do think I could have paired with a slightly sweeter sparkling wine, maybe a nice cava or prosecco, but there is nothing wrong with this. Nothing at all, as Bruno Mars would say.

Well, nothing, except, like all the rest, this one also proved nigh on impossible to photograph well. You may have noticed that I opted for the whole overflowing glass thing and way too many bubbles. That was not a choice, per se, but that’s what happened. When I got around to looking at the shots, It was clear that my first, oopsie pic with the bubbles running down the side of the glass was the only one that was going to work. I am ok with that, I will take a bit of luck any day. I’d like to think that at some point I will be able to photograph one of theses well, while the bubbles are still doing their thing, but I am not holding out any great hope. Still, I am going to keep trying, mainly because while researching bubbly drinks, I keep finding interesting things and doing this whole sparkling theme is keeping me from having to make any real choices during these unprecedented times. I’m just not up to it this week. So, I’ll see you back here tomorrow for more poorly photographed champagne cocktails, same bat-time, same bat-channel. Stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, old chum.