New York City, United States · 2011

Naked and Famous

A smoky, herbal, bitter-sour equal-parts cocktail that hits you from three directions at once.

smokyherbalbittersourmezcalChartreuseAperolequal-partscomplexcitrus

ABV

Difficulty

Overview

What this drink is like

The first sip is smoke and lime, sharp and bright. Then the yellow Chartreuse blooms — honeyed herbs and spice pushing through the mezcal. The finish settles into a lingering bitter-orange note from the Aperol that keeps you reaching for another sip.

Who will like it

For people who like bitter-sweet, herbal, smoky drinks with real acidity — think Last Word fans who want something louder.

When to drink

This is a pre-dinner wake-up call: sharp enough to get your palate going, complex enough to sip slowly.

Ordering tip

If your bar has mezcal and yellow Chartreuse, they can make this — just specify equal parts if they don't know the build.

Ice: NoneTemp: ColdCost: $3–$6Glass: CoupeBatch-friendly

Flavor

Taste profile

This drink hits like a fistful of different flavors that shouldn't work together but do. The smoke from the mezcal rolls in first, then the yellow Chartreuse opens up with its honey-and-herb thing, and the Aperol leaves a bitter-orange trail on the way out. The lime juice runs through all of it, keeping everything sharp and awake. It's not a subtle sipper — every ingredient announces itself — but they overlap in a way that makes you want to keep tasting to figure out what's going on.

Finish: The finish runs medium-long, with herbal bitterness and a wisp of smoke hanging around after the lime fades.

Primary tastes

smokyherbalbittersour

Secondary

sweetearthy

Aroma

smokehoneyed herbsorange peellime zest

Bitternessmoderately bitter
The Aperol and Chartreuse both contribute bitterness that sits front and center without overwhelming the drink.
Sweetnessbalanced sweetness
Yellow Chartreuse and Aperol bring enough sugar to stand up to the lime and smoke, but it never reads as a sweet drink.
Sournessfirm acidity
The fresh lime juice gives a sharp, clean sourness that cuts through the heavier liqueurs and keeps the drink lively.
Strengthmoderately strong
Mezcal and yellow Chartreuse both pack a punch, but the Aperol and lime bring the overall strength down to a solid mid-range.
Refreshingmoderately refreshing
The lime and shaken texture give it lift, but the smoke and herbal weight keep it from feeling light.
Smokinessclearly smoky
The mezcal smoke is one of the first things you notice — present and identifiable but not so heavy that it buries the other ingredients.
Creaminesslean and sharp
No dairy or egg — the body comes from the Chartreuse and shaken aeration, giving a slight silkiness but nothing rich.
Complexityhighly complex
Four very different ingredients each pulling in their own direction — smoke, herbs, bitter orange, and sharp lime — and somehow they all show up in the glass.

Recipe

Make it at home

Shaken · Coupe · equal parts on Mezcal. A younger espadín works well — you want smoke but not something so funky it steamrolls everything else

Before you start

Chill your coupe glass first — stick it in the freezer for a few minutes or fill it with ice water while you build the drink. Juice your lime before you start measuring.

Ingredients

MezcalBase SpiritJoven or espadín recommended22.5ml
Yellow ChartreuseLiqueurSweeter and softer than green; don't substitute green without adjusting22.5ml
AperolLiqueur22.5ml
Fresh lime juiceJuiceMust be fresh — bottled lime juice will taste flat and metallic here22.5ml

Tools

Jigger · Measuring
Measuring equal parts of each ingredient — precision matters in a four-ingredient equal-parts build
At home: A shot glass with ml markings
Cocktail shaker · Shaking
Shaking the drink with ice to chill, dilute, and aerate the lime and liqueurs
At home: A large mason jar with a tight lid
Hawthorne strainer · Straining
Straining ice out of the shaker while pouring into the glass
At home: A slotted spoon held against the shaker opening
Fine strainer · Straining
Double straining to catch small ice chips and lime pulp so the drink is clean in the glass
At home: A small wire mesh tea strainer
Coupe glass · Serving
Serving the drink — a coupe keeps the aromatics concentrated near your nose
At home: A small wine glass or shallow bowl-shaped glass
Citrus juicer · optional · Other
Extracting fresh lime juice efficiently
At home: Squeeze by hand over a fine mesh to catch seeds

Steps

1
Grab your shaker tin and measure in 22.5ml mezcal, 22.5ml yellow Chartreuse, 22.5ml Aperol, and 22.5ml fresh lime juice. Use your jigger for each one — in an equal-parts drink, being off on any ingredient throws the whole balance off.
!Free-pouring instead of measuring — even a small over-pour of Chartreuse or lime will tilt the drink.
2
Fill the shaker tin with ice, going a bit above the level of the liquid. You want enough ice to chill the drink fast without having to shake forever. Big cubes or a mix is fine — just fill it up.
!Using too little ice, which means you have to shake longer and the drink gets watered down.
3
Seal the shaker and shake hard for about 10 to 12 seconds. You want the outside of the tin to frost over and feel genuinely cold to the touch — that's how you know it's properly chilled and diluted. The lime juice should be fully integrated, not sitting separately.
~11s
!Shaking too gently or too briefly — the drink will be warm and the texture will be thin instead of slightly silky.
4
Dump the ice water out of your coupe glass if you used that method, or grab the chilled glass from the freezer. Hold the Hawthorne strainer over the shaker and the fine strainer over the glass, then pour the drink through both strainers. This catches any ice shards and lime pulp so you get a clean, clear drink.
!Skipping the fine strainer — you'll end up with floating ice chips and bits of lime pulp in the glass.
5
Serve it right away while it's cold. No ice in the glass, no garnish — the drink stands on its own. The surface should have a slight sheen from the shaken citrus and liqueurs.
!Letting the drink sit too long before serving — it warms up fast in a coupe with no ice.

Serve

Serve straight up in a chilled coupe with no ice and no garnish. Drink it while it's cold — this one doesn't improve as it warms.

Variations

Ingredient substitutions

Each row shows what you can swap in place of an original ingredient, and how the drink changes.

Swap options for Yellow Chartreuse

Yellow ChartreuseGreen Chartreuse
Match
Specialty availability
Yellow Chartreuse → Green Chartreuse: Much more herbal and assertive, with higher ABV — the drink becomes sharper and less rounded.
Yellow ChartreuseDrambuie
Match
Common availability
Yellow Chartreuse → Drambuie: Sweeter and more honey-forward with Scotch notes, losing the complex herbal layer entirely.

Swap options for Aperol

AperolCampari
Match
Common availability
Aperol → Campari: Bitterer and less sweet — the drink shifts from balanced bitter-sweet to genuinely bitter.
AperolSuze
Match
Specialty availability
Aperol → Suze: Earthier and more gentian-driven, losing the orange note entirely and going more vegetal.

Swap options for Mezcal

MezcalBlanco tequila
Match
Common availability
Mezcal → Blanco tequila: Loses the smoke entirely — the drink becomes cleaner and more agave-forward but less complex.

Similar cocktails

Cousin drinks that share DNA with this one — each profile stands on its own.

Similar cocktail

Last Word

The Last Word uses gin and maraschino liqueur instead of mezcal and Aperol, making it less smoky and more floral-nutty.

Match

The Last Word is floral and nutty from the maraschino and green Chartreuse, while the Naked and Famous is smokier and more bitter from the mezcal and Aperol. Both share that herbal-lime backbone, but they end up in very different places.

In common: equal-parts build, shaken and served up, Chartreuse-based complexity, herbal and sour

Ingredients

Both share

Fresh lime juice

Only in Naked and Famous

Mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol

Only in Last Word

Gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur

Both drinks use lime juice in an equal-parts framework, but the Naked and Famous swaps gin for mezcal, green Chartreuse for yellow, and maraschino for Aperol — trading floral and nutty for smoky and bitter-orange.

Flavor

Shared flavors

herbal backbone from Chartreuse, sharp lime acidity, layered bitter-sweet finish

How Last Word differs

smokier, less floral, more bitter-orange, less nutty

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Paper Plane

The Paper Plane uses bourbon and Amaro Nonino instead of mezcal and Chartreuse, making it warmer and more caramel-forward rather than smoky and herbal.

Match

The Paper Plane is warmer and rounder from the bourbon and Amaro Nonino, while the Naked and Famous is sharper and smokier. The Aperol gives both a bitter-orange thread, but the surrounding ingredients pull them in different directions.

In common: equal-parts build, shaken and served up, bitter-sweet balance, modern classic

Ingredients

Both share

Aperol

Only in Naked and Famous

Mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Fresh lime juice

Only in Paper Plane

Bourbon whiskey, Amaro Nonino, Fresh lemon juice

Both drinks use Aperol in an equal-parts build, but the Paper Plane goes bourbon-amaro-lemon while the Naked and Famous goes mezcal-Chartreuse-lime — a shift from warm and amaro-driven to smoky and herbal.

Flavor

Shared flavors

bitter-orange note from Aperol, citrus brightness, equal-parts balance

How Paper Plane differs

warmer and rounder, no smoke, more caramel and vanilla, less herbal

View recipe & details →

Similar cocktail

Final Ward

The Final Ward uses rye whiskey and green Chartreuse instead of mezcal and yellow Chartreuse, making it spicier and more assertively herbal rather than smoky and honeyed-herbal.

Match

The Final Ward is spicier and more herbal from the rye and green Chartreuse, while the Naked and Famous is smokier and has that bitter-orange Aperol note. Both are assertive, but they assert different things.

In common: equal-parts build, shaken and served up, Last Word variation, herbal and sour

Ingredients

Both share

Fresh lime juice

Only in Naked and Famous

Mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol

Only in Final Ward

Rye whiskey, Green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur

Both are Last Word variations with lime juice, but the Final Ward uses rye and green Chartreuse with maraschino, while the Naked and Famous uses mezcal and yellow Chartreuse with Aperol — different spirit, different Chartreuse, different modifier.

Flavor

Shared flavors

herbal Chartreuse backbone, sharp lime acidity, bitter-sweet tension

How Final Ward differs

spicier from the rye, more assertively herbal, no smoke, more floral-nutty from maraschino

View recipe & details →

History

Origin

Joaquín Simó created this drink at Pouring Ribbons in New York City around 2011. The name comes from the New Zealand band The Naked and Famous. It follows the equal-parts template of the Last Word, swapping in mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, and Aperol for a completely different flavor direction.

Creator: Joaquín Simó at Pouring Ribbons
Era: 2010s
Confidence

The recipe is well-established and widely agreed upon as equal parts. The exact year of creation is sometimes cited as 2011, sometimes as 2012 — Simó created it at Pouring Ribbons shortly after the bar opened.

Practical

Tips & pitfalls

What works at home and what to skip when making this drink.

Tips

Worth knowing before you pour

Yellow Chartreuse is the hardest bottle to find — check specialty shops or order online.
Use a decent mezcal but not your best one — the other ingredients are loud.
Shake this harder than you think — the lime and Chartreuse need the aeration.
Taste before you strain — if it reads too sour, add a barspoon of yellow Chartreuse.

Avoid

Common mistakes

Don't swap green Chartreuse for yellow without reducing the amount — it overpowers everything.
Don't skip the fresh lime — bottled juice makes this taste flat and metallic.
Don't under-shake — the texture should be slightly silky, not thin and watery.