the drink of laughter and forgetting

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
14 drop Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a spritz of Angostura Bitters over the top.

The evening after landing, I did one of my favorite parts of the Tales experience -- my third annual trip out to the Cure bar on the Tuesday night before things kick off. Without all of the Tales attendees in town yet, I easily found a seat at the bar in front of Turk Dietrich. For a starting point, my eyes honed in on the Drink of Laughter and Forgetting that was created by Mike Yusko. In my mind, the pairing of Green Chartreuse and Cynar worked so well in Ryan Lotz's Monk's Thistle; however, I did not realize until later that the Drink of Laughter and Forgetting seemed to be a progression from the Art of Choke that I was served at the Cure two years ago.
The drink Turk made me started with an aroma of Angostura from the garnish and lime and Chartreuse notes from the drink itself. While the sip was a rich lime flavor, the swallow contained the Cynar and Chartreuse. Interestingly, these two flavorful liqueurs switched prominence throughout the latter half of the sip and swallow. In fact, my neighbor who was also drinking one commented that there was an "ebb and flow of bitter and herbal." I am not sure if the title refers to both of these liqueurs individually, but if so, my money is on the 110 proof Chartreuse as the forgetting part. Or perhaps Mike is just a big fan of Milan Kundera who wrote The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.