white giuseppe

2 oz Gran Classico
2 oz Lillet Blanc
1 barspoon Grapefruit Juice
2 dash Fee's Barrel-Aged Orange Bitters

Build in a rocks glass with a large ice cube. Garnish the ice cube with a pinch of salt and a grapefruit twist.

For a second drink at Sichuan Garden II, bartender Ran Duan made me the White Giuseppe, his riff on the products of a Stephen Cole-Misty Kalkofen game of bartender telephone. Stephen Cole of the Violet Hour crafted the Bitter Giuseppe using Cynar and sweet vermouth while Misty Kalkofen at Drink came up with the Little Giuseppe using Cynar and Punt e Mes. Here, Ran swapped Gran Classico for the Cynar, Lillet for the vermouth/Punt e Mes, and grapefruit for the lemon juice.
The White Giuseppe's grapefruit twist provided much of the drink's aroma and prepared the mouth for the grapefruit juice-citrus wine sip. Next, the Gran Classico came through on the swallow and its bitterness was softened by the salt.