pomme en croute

1 1/2 oz Calvados (Morin Selection)
1/2 oz Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)
1/2 oz Campari or Gran Classico (Campari)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a glass with a sugared rim. Garnish with a long orange twist.

Two Mondays ago, I picked up our copy of Food & Wine: Cocktails 2012 and saw which riffs on classics I had not yet made. The one that caught my eye was Chris Hannah's Brandy Crusta variation. Chris works at Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans, and he selected the Crusta for it was created a mere 4 blocks away from his bar back in 1850. For this version, he took an apple twist and replaced the nonpotable bitters with Campari.
Lemon and Campari aromas greeted the nose, and the lemon continued on into the sip where it worked well with the Curaçao's orange flavors. On the swallow, the Calvados' apple mingled with the Campari. Overall, the drink came across more as an Apple Sidecar than as a traditional Crusta. Moreover, the recipe made me think of Rendezvous' Scott Holliday who has made me many Crustas as well as variations that replace a spirit with Calvados.