Division Bell
A Division Bell is 30ml of mezcal, 22.5ml of Aperol, 15ml of maraschino liqueur and 22.5ml of fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, with a grapefruit twist expressed over the top and thrown away. About 1.9 UK units. Phil Ward created it in 2009 at Mayahuel, his tequila and mezcal bar in New York’s East Village. It is a Last Word with two swaps: mezcal for the gin and Aperol for the green Chartreuse. Ward reportedly took the name from Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell, which he played on repeat while the bar was being built. Aperol brings bitter orange and softens the smoke, the maraschino adds cherry and bitter almond, and the lime holds the three together. With Aperol at 11% ABV in place of Chartreuse, it is lighter than the Last Word.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Grapefruit twist expressed and discarded
Ingredients
30ml
An espadín at 40% ABV or a little more; Del Maguey Vida is the usual choice. It leads the drink, so choose a bottle you would drink neat.
22.5ml
Bitter orange at 11% ABV, standing where the Last Word has green Chartreuse. It softens the smoke and gives the drink its colour.
15ml
Luxardo or a similar maraschino at around 32% ABV: clear, with cherry and a bitter almond edge from the stones, and sweeter than it tastes. Fifteen millilitres seasons the drink without taking it over.
22.5ml
Squeezed the same day. It is the only acid in the glass and the frame the other three sit on.
Instructions
Squeeze the lime juice the same day.
Chill a coupe.
Add the mezcal, Aperol, maraschino and lime juice to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled coupe.
Express the grapefruit twist over the surface and discard it.
Source: Difford's Guide (Phil Ward’s 2009 Mayahuel specification; the same measures as PUNCH; method ours). Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Express the grapefruit twist and throw it away. Its oil bridges the Aperol’s orange and the mezcal’s smoke; left in the glass, the peel adds pith bitterness to a drink that already has bitterness covered. Use a mezcal you would drink neat, an espadín for preference. The smoke leads here, so a harsh or very smoky bottle shows straight through. Measure the maraschino. Fifteen millilitres is less than any of the other three, and it needs to be: maraschino is loud for its volume, and a heavier pour puts cherry ahead of the smoke.
Behind the Division Bell
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Phil Ward created the Division Bell in 2009 at Mayahuel, his bar in New York’s East Village, given over to tequila and mezcal. He had already made the Oaxaca Old Fashioned, and the opening menu ran to about twenty agave cocktails.
Mezcal was rare on cocktail menus then, and drinks like this helped put it there. The name is said to come from Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell, which Ward played on repeat while the bar was being built.
Two Swaps From the Last Word
The Last Word is gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime in equal parts. The Division Bell keeps the maraschino and the lime, puts mezcal where the gin was and Aperol where the Chartreuse was, then leaves equal parts behind.
Joaquín Simó’s Naked and Famous, from Death & Co, came later and works the same idea the other way: mezcal and Aperol again, with yellow Chartreuse in place of the maraschino, in equal parts.
Three Relations Compared
The Division Bell beside the Last Word and the Naked and Famous
Division Bell
- Spirit
- 30ml mezcal
- Herbal or bitter
- 22.5ml Aperol
- Liqueur
- 15ml maraschino
- Citrus
- 22.5ml lime
- UK units
- About 1.9
Last Word
- Spirit
- 22.5ml gin
- Herbal or bitter
- 22.5ml green Chartreuse
- Liqueur
- 22.5ml maraschino
- Citrus
- 22.5ml lime
- UK units
- About 2.9
Naked and Famous
- Spirit
- 22.5ml mezcal
- Herbal or bitter
- 22.5ml Aperol
- Liqueur
- 22.5ml yellow Chartreuse
- Citrus
- 22.5ml lime
- UK units
- About 2.1
| Drink | Spirit | Herbal or bitter | Liqueur | Citrus | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division Bell | 30ml mezcal | 22.5ml Aperol | 15ml maraschino | 22.5ml lime | About 1.9 |
| Last Word | 22.5ml gin | 22.5ml green Chartreuse | 22.5ml maraschino | 22.5ml lime | About 2.9 |
| Naked and Famous | 22.5ml mezcal | 22.5ml Aperol | 22.5ml yellow Chartreuse | 22.5ml lime | About 2.1 |
The Maraschino
Maraschino is a clear liqueur made from marasca cherries, stones and all, which is where its almond note comes from. It reads faintly funky rather than fruity, and it is sweeter than it tastes.
It is loud for its volume, so Ward uses less of it than anything else in the glass. At 15ml it sharpens the smoke and leaves room for the Aperol’s orange.
How to Serve It
Cold, up in a coupe, with the twist expressed and gone. It looks like little in the glass, a pale, cloudy orange, and tastes of smoke, bitter orange and cherry in that order.
For the honeyed version with yellow Chartreuse, make a Naked and Famous; for the gin original, a Last Word.
Make it at home
The Spirit
MezcalMezcal is distilled in Mexico from cooked agave hearts, by law always 100% agave, with most bottles between 40 and 48% ABV and 40% in our recipes. Artisanal mezcal, cooked in pit or masonry ovens, is where the smoke usually comes from. Espadín is the common agave, poured from a split base under tequila in an Oaxacan Old Fashioned to a full 60ml in a Mezcal Margarita.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Division Bell?
Who created the Division Bell?
How is it related to the Last Word?
How does it differ from a Naked and Famous?
Why discard the grapefruit twist?
What mezcal should I use?
How strong is a Division Bell?
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Naked and Famous
A Naked and Famous is 22.5ml each of mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, with no garnish. About 2.1 UK units. These are the IBA’s measures. Joaquín Simó created it at Death & Co in New York. It takes the shape of the Last Word, four equal parts with fresh citrus, and shares Aperol with the Paper Plane. Phil Ward’s Division Bell had already put mezcal with Aperol. Each part has one job. Mezcal brings smoke, yellow Chartreuse honeyed herbs, Aperol a soft bitter orange and lime the acid. Use yellow Chartreuse, not green: at 43% ABV against 55% it is gentler, and the balance depends on it.
Last Word
A Last Word is 22.5ml each of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora or coupe. About 2.9 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s; the cherry or lime twist is ours. It comes from the Detroit Athletic Club, where it was on the menu by 1916. Ted Saucier’s Bottoms Up of 1951 credits the vaudeville performer Frank Fogarty with taking it to New York. In 2003 the Seattle bartender Murray Stenson found it in Saucier’s book and put it on the menu at the Zig Zag Café, and from there it spread. Four strong flavours at equal volume, and none takes over. Chartreuse brings herbs and heat, maraschino cherry and a bitter almond edge, lime the acid, and gin holds them together.
Paper Plane
A Paper Plane is 30ml each of bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and fresh lemon juice, shaken hard and double strained into a chilled coupe. Four equal parts, which is the IBA specification: bitter orange, herbs and lemon over bourbon, at about 2.6 UK units. Sam Ross created it around 2008, working with Sasha Petraske, as a favour for Toby Maloney’s bar The Violet Hour in Chicago. It took its name from the M.I.A. song Paper Planes, which the two had playing while they worked on it. The first version used Campari; Ross found it too bitter and moved to Aperol. Equal parts leaves nowhere to hide. Squeeze the lemon the same day and use Nonino, not a cheaper amaro, because each ingredient is a quarter of the drink.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026