tarzan boy

1 oz JM Rhum Agricole Blanc
1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth (*)
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth (*)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Fill with ice, garnish with an orange twist, and add a straw.
(*)Recipe works well without blanc vermouth if the dry vermouth is upped to 1 oz and 1/4 oz simple syrup is added. Also 1/2 oz sweet vermouth works well in place of the blanc vermouth but the drink loses its tropical color.
For the final Yacht Rock Sunday of the season at Loyal Nine a week and a half ago, I put on three new drinks. The first was a tropical Negroni riff that got dubbed after the playlist song Tarzan Boy. The idea started with how passion fruit modulates Campari into something tropical and not incredibly bitter -- an idea I was first introduced to in the Novara. While I have had a few Campari and passion fruit combinations, they all contained citrus; instead of going that route, I wondered if a stirred option could work and immediately targeted the Negroni as a testing ground. Rhum agricole seemed like it would bolster the tropical aspects (cachaça might have been my go-to if we had it on the bar), and it turned out to be a decent choice. Originally, the vermouth pick was an ounce of dry vermouth but the balance was a bit bitter; I was able to rescue this on the first pass with a 1/4 oz dash of simple syrup before I opted to split the dry vermouth with a half part of blanc vermouth. Sweet vermouth did work flavor-wise but the drink lost that guava-like color. For the new menu that launched a few days ago, the Tarzan Boy helped to replace the rhum agricole 'Ti Punch (see the Homere Punch) variation and the passion fruit syrup Hopping Through the Frothy Waves; both of course are still available if requested.