shift drink

1 1/2 oz Rye (Old Overholt)
3/4 oz Ginger Liqueur (King's Ginger)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Fernet Branca

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
After the Lizard King, I turned to the Cocktail Collective book and spotted Jacob Grier's Shift Drink. With the Fernet Branca and citrus, the format reminded me of the Restauranteur, but instead of Yellow Chartreuse as the complementing liqueur, the Shift Drink utilizes ginger liqueur. This idea harkens me back to how I used to do my Fernet Branca at Eastern Standard back in 2007 -- San Francisco style as a shot with a ginger beer back. Once mixed, the Shift Drink offered a lemon oil and whiskey aroma. Next, lemon and malt on the sip gave way to rye on the swallow. The finish was at first Fernet Branca's herbal menthol, but it later flip flopped with the ginger liqueur; strangely, it was one or the other, but not both on a particular swallow.