COCKTAIL: 43andMe
A sweet-tart cocktail commemorating one more trip around the sun
This cocktail originally appeared in the May 23rd, 2025 edition of The Action Cookbook Newsletter.
I’m having a birthday next week! (I don’t really have a choice in the matter, but the thing about getting a year older is that it’s preferable to any of the alternatives.) I don’t usually like to make a big deal about my birthday, but I could not let an opportunity for numerological alignment in mixology to pass un-seized.
You see, a couple months ago, I picked up a bottle of Licor 43.
The classic cordial—a product of Cartagena, Spain—has a pleasant vanilla-and-citrus profile to it, and it’s an essential ingredient in the Carajillo, a widely-popular beverage that pairs it with espresso. (I made my own version with both espresso liqueur and fresh espresso, and it was a household hit.)
Scott Hines
As it happens, I’m turning 43 next week, which means I’d have to give Licor 43 at least a co-starring role in this week’s drink. At the same time, I’ve recently become completely enamored of Smith & Cross, a funky overproof Jamaican rum with a bold banana-bread nose to it.
I set my sights on bringing both spirits into a four-equal-parts cocktail along the lines of The Last Word, the Yellow Cocktail, the Sunflower or the Paper Plane. I tinkered with a few ideas, and settled on one that uses the Smith & Cross, Licor 43, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao and fresh lime juice.
(I cheated the notion of “equal parts” a little bit, though, as I ended up splitting the Dry Curaçao part between the traditional orange expression and their yuzu variant. I think it would work just fine with one filling the full part, but it’s my party and I’ll yuzu if I want to.)
43andMe
- 3/4 ounce Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum
- 3/4 ounce Licor 43 / Cuarenta y Tres
- 3/4 ounce lime juice
- 3/8 ounce (3/4 tablespoon) Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
- 3/8 ounce (3/4 tablespoon) Pierre Ferrand Yuzu Dry Curaçao
- lime wheel, for garnish
Shake all the ingredients with ice; double-strain into a coupe, and garnish with lime.
There are cocktail experiments that I am pleased with, and then there are cocktail experiments that I am excited about, and this was firmly in the latter camp; it worked beautifully, and I have already made it three times since. It might be my Cocktail of the Summer, should summer ever deign to arrive here. (It is 46 degrees as I prepare to hit send on this.)
It’s a bit sweeter and more tart than I usually go for personally—I like a dry and/or bitter cocktail—but it’s sharp, mature and far from cloying. It’s a really good drink, and worth your attention. Besides, you can make Carajillos with the Licor 43, Kingston Negronis with the Smith & Cross, and half the cocktails in my archives from the Dry Curaçao.
—Scott Hines (@actioncookbook)
