[bitter improv]

1 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Pimm's No. 1
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe; garnish with an orange twist.

For my next drink at Craigie, I asked Michael to make me something off the menu. It did not matter if we stuck with gin or moved on to rye but to have some bitter liqueurs as the focus. As he was thinking, I told him that he could extemporize if he would like, and he answered the dare quite well.

The end product was sort of like a Prospect Park with a wonderful lingering bitterness to it from the Cynar. When I let Tommy taste it, he commented to Michael to decrease the Aperol and switch to the sturdier Angostura Orange next time. I thought that reducing the Aperol by half an ounce and either adding that volume to the Pimm's or the rye would be good next steps in the drink's evolution, but regardless it was a good cocktail to end the night.