pride of the neighborhood

1 1/2 oz Bols Genever
1 oz Averna
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1/4+ oz Blackberry Syrup (housemade)
2 dash Mole Bitters
1 Egg

Shake once without ice and once with. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with 8 drops of Tiki Bitters.

On Wednesday night after attending the wonderful Science of Taste through Cocktails class hosted by LUPEC Boston at Eastern Standard, I felt that I needed a nightcap. The bar at Eastern Standard was already full of patrons and attendees who did not dawdle around after class chatting, so I decided to venture onward. My travels took me across the bridge and into Cambridge. I figured by this hour, the bar at Craigie on Main should have at least one seat open, and I was right. Bartender John Mayer greeted me and asked what I was in the mood for. When I replied a nightcap, he countered "Egg?" With the affirmative, he proceeded to name the ingredients one by one in this flip, and the affirmatives kept on coming until I nodded that he should make the darn thing already. The drink was named "Pride of the Neighborhood (Donald Fagen is a Vampire)" after a lyric from the Steely Dan song "Josie." John would not elaborate too much on why Donald Fagen was a vampire other than that it was obvious, but as we all learned from the Appleton Remixology contest, the man is very serious about his music and uses it quite well for recipe inspiration.
The Pride of the Neighborhood started with a cardamom and cinnamon aroma from the housemade tiki bitters floated on the egg froth. These spice notes from the bitters on the nose transitioned very well into the Averna flavors on the tongue. The malty and rich sip from the Bols Genever and egg was followed by a complex berry and cherry flavor combined with the dark amaro notes of the Averna on the swallow. I will not fathom a guess as to how this drink related to the song, but the dark, bitter berry smoothness was quite a smash hit.