If you don't have pre-made vanilla syrup, make quick vanilla syrup by combining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Split and scrape one vanilla bean (or use 1 tsp pure vanilla extract) into the pan, warm until sugar dissolves, then cool. Use 0.5 oz per cocktail and store remainder refrigerated.

Add 1.5 oz Ilegal Mezcal, 0.5 oz orange liqueur, 0.5 oz vanilla syrup, 1 oz fresh pomegranate juice, 0.5 oz fresh lime juice, and 0.25 oz fresh lemon juice to a cocktail shaker.

Fill the shaker with ice (large cubes preferred) and shake hard for 10–15 seconds until well chilled and slightly diluted.

Double-strain the mixture into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass (or a rocks glass over a large ice cube, if preferred).

Foam & Finish

Measure 0.75 oz Fee Foam (or your chosen bitter foam alternative). If using bottled Fee Foam product, gently pour over the back of a spoon held just above the cocktail to let it settle on top. If you are using an egg-white style foam instead, dry-shake 0.75 oz of the foam base with the cocktail ingredients first (without ice) for 10 seconds, then add ice and shake again to create a stable foam; strain over the drink.

Garnish the foam with a few pomegranate seeds (about 1 tsp) arranged near the center and finish with a thin twist of orange or lemon expressed over the drink and laid on the foam or perched on the rim.

Serve immediately. Advise the drinker to sip through the foam to experience the aromatic bitters and vanilla before the mezcal and pomegranate flavors come forward.