Finish Line

I was feeling like I've had too many boozy drinks lately, so I thought I'd make myself a Runner's Reward. When I got to the kitchen, however, I got distracted. Last night, I thought I had finished off all of the Aperol in the house. This made me sad. Fortunately, my wife pointed out I had already bought a new bottle, since we were running low. And that inspired me to try a variation on the Runner's Reward, replacing the St. Germain with Aperol.

Unsurprisingly, this made for a different type of drink. Where the Runner's Reward is light and refreshing, the Finish Line is a bit more savory. The flavor lingers longer, and is a hint more bitter. I used Fee Bros. Grapefruit bitters instead of the Hopped Grapefruit bitters, and I'm glad I did. I think that the hopped grapefruit would have been a bit much. In fact, perhaps some Boker's Bitters would be even better. I also suspect white rum might be better than spiced rum. Recipe after the jump.

Tre Amici

I started off wanting to do a variant negroni with the new bitter I bought over the weekend, but this turned into something else entirely. I was going to swap out the Campari for Aperol, but then started thinking about the other substitutions I could make, a la the Mr. Potato Head theory of cocktails. I know that Cardamaro can be a good substitute for sweet vermouth, if you like your drinks a bit more savory and bitter (and I do!) So that led me to start thinking about what I could sub for the gin.

Most of your major spirits don't make good substitutes for gin. Vodka is boring. Rum is sweeter and, to be honest, often less complex. And the brown spirits are really another thing entirely. But I had the fortune of purchasing (finally) a bottle of Cocchi Americano yesterday, and was eager to try it out. So I figured why not sub the Cocchi in for the gin? The first sip was fairly tasty, but a bit bitter. It needed something to tie it together. After two dashes of Boker's Bitters, it was complete.

Unsurprisingly, the Tre Amici is fairly bitter. But it's balanced out by the latent sweetness in the Cardamaro, and the Boker's really helps tie it together. You can taste all of the components, but they work off of each other to produce an exceptionally balanced cocktail. Recipe after the jump.