mela rose

1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 Egg White
6 drop Pernod Absinthe

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a glass and garnish with freshly grated cinnamon.

Two Mondays ago, we ventured over to Eastern Standard to get a late dinner. There, we found a pair of seats at the far end of the bar in front of bartender Kevin Morrison (who I no longer need to refer to as Kevin not-Martin since the other Kevin has moved on to work with Privateer Rum). For a cocktail, I asked for the Mela Rose which was subtitled in the Oeuf section as "when Italy comes to America," and Kevin mentioned that this was a Hugh Fiore original.
The Mela Rose shared a cinnamon notes over a smoothed Campari aroma, and the nose later displayed the absinthe's anise. A creamy, sweet citrus sip was filled with orange and lemon flavors, and this was chased by a muted Campari swallow. The apple flavors were not as obvious here, but they seemed to function in tying the fruit and Campari notes together. Overall, this was delicious, but it was a touch on the sweet side so perhaps dropping the simple syrup a bit would work better for my palate; the sweetness does make the Campari more accessible though.