palaver

1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

For our next round at the Citizen Public House, bartender Nick Korn wanted to showcase some of his new recipes. The drink he made for me was the Palaver; a palaver is idle talk, misleading speech, or a long discussion between people of different levels of sophistication. Nick described how the drink starts with Fernet, but in the end the drinker is not left with it.
The orange oil dominated the cocktail's aroma at first before the Fernet Branca herbal notes began to peep through. Next, a caramel and grape flavor was tinged with orange notes on the sip. And the swallow began with Punt e Mes' bitter elements and finished with Fernet's menthol and the gin's juniper notes.

Elena
• 1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
• 1 oz Amaro Montenegro
• 1 oz Lustau Dry Amontillado Sherry
Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

Another of the drinks Nick made us was the Elena which was his aperitif creation. Its sip was full of the sweet vermouth and sherry's grape, and the swallow presented a pleasant nutty and herbal combination.