Strobist Info: Godox AD200 with a 26-inch octo-softbox camera left and slightly behind and above the subject. Small white V-flat directly camera right of the subject. This is Pancho Perico, a cocktail created by Shannon Ponche for her bar Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York, and published in Spirits of Latin America by Ivy Mix. Featured in this drink is an unusual syrup made from poblano peppers which is responsible for its intense green color. This cocktail is a good example of culinary aphorism, "what grows together goes together". Poblanos, pineapple, and sugarcane all grow through the Central America and the Caribbean. It may seem odd to see peppers join pineapple and grassy rhum agricole, but it definitely works. Pineapples are prevalent throughout Mexican cuisine. The funky grassiness of rhum agricoles tends to make fast friends with vegetal ingredients like peppers more than their molasses-based counterparts. The whole cocktail has an interesting exotic flair that's a balance of pepperiness and tropical fruit. A small amount of whiskey and sherry curiously join this mixture for more depth and structure. This is a great cocktail if you're looking for something a bit off the beaten path with culinary inspiration. 1.25 oz rhum agricole blanc (Leyenda uses Duquesne) 0.75 oz bourbon 0.5 oz manzanilla sherry 0.75 oz fresh lime juice 0.5 oz pineapple juice 0.75 oz poblano syrup (see note) Combine all of the ingredients into a shaker tin. Add a small scoop of pebble ice and whip-shake until the ice is most or fully melted. Pour unstrained into a chilled collins glass or tiki mug filled with pebble ice. Garnish with a lime wheel, pineapple wedge, pineapple frond, and/or a banana leaf (Leyenda does the banana leaf, situate it in the glass before adding the ice) Note: I lowered the amount of syrup (1.25 to 0.75) since the recipe as printed was overly dominated by the poblano syrup, at least for me. To make the juice: Remove the stems from 4 poblano peppers and juice them using a juice extractor. Measure the juice and add to it agave nectar of half its measure (e.g. 2 cups juice to 1 cup agave nectar). Use a blender to fully combine the juice and nectar. Bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. © Chase Hoffman Photography. All rights reserved.