black snake

1 1/2 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum
3/4 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Fizz glass. Top with 1 oz Coca Cola.

Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to Myers & Chang for dinner. Instead of a beer, I opted for a cocktail that I had spotted last time but passed on; this time, the combination of black strap rum, Cynar, lime, and cola was too curious to pass up. They had named the libation the Black Snake after the Chinese zodiac symbol for 2013. Cynar, black strap rum, and citrus have worked well in the past in drinks like Derek Brown's The Getaway, and Coke seemed like it would add some synergy to the mix.
The Black Snake proffered a lime and molasses nose that led into a lime and caramel sip. Most of the rum and its molasses flavors appeared on the swallow along with the Cynar-cola bitter notes. Over all, the Cynar and Coke worked rather well together, and the whole mixture came across like a more complex Kill Divil.