3.31 oz mixed with ice, 0.85 oz of it pure alcohol
Melt
Shaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.66 oz of water
Served
3.31 + 0.66 = 3.97 oz in the glass
Strength
0.85 ÷ 3.97 = 21.5 % ABV as served
Ethanol
0.85 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 20 g · about 139 kcal from the alcohol alone
IN THE GLASS
METHYL ANTHRANILATE
FROM TEQUILA AGAVE · the grape candy note
Formula
C₈H₉NO₂
Mass
151.16 g/mol
IUPAC
methyl 2-aminobenzoate
The grape-candy / Welch's-grape-juice aroma. Concord grapes carry it in concentrations no European wine grape (Vitis vinifera) approaches; American Vitis labrusca grapes, native to the northeastern US, hold methyl anthranilate as a signature. The "foxy" note in North American grape juice and artificial grape candy both come from the same molecule. Also used as the standard bird repellent on commercial fruit crops; birds find it intolerable.
The smoke molecule. In peated scotch from burning peat over the malted barley; in mezcal from the underground roasting pit; in barbecue, smoked paprika, and bonfires. One molecule covering campfire, Islay whisky, and good carnitas. The brain files all three under "fire."
The aldehyde that makes cinnamon taste like cinnamon, roughly 90% of cinnamon bark oil by volume. Triggers TRPA1 (the "wasabi receptor") at high doses, which is why Red Hots burn and a cinnamon stick steeped too long in mulled wine turns acrid. Cassia cinnamon (the common grocery-store kind) carries more than the milder Ceylon variety.
Blanco tequila, mezcal, lime, agave and mole bitters. It is the Tommy's Margarita evolved: mezcal's guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol from pit-smoked piña add a smoke layer beneath, and mole bitters add cacao and cinnamon.
PROVENANCE
A modern American craft variation on Tommy's Margarita that adds mezcal and mole bitters. The 'Tommy Gun' name is a 1930s-Chicago reference (Thompson submachine gun) applied to a 21st-century cocktail. The drink shows how a small smoke addition transforms a sour from clean-tropical to brooding-savory; mezcal in the half-ounce quantity adds enough phenols to be noticed without dominating.
