life on mars

1 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillers Greylock Gin
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
1/2 oz Campari

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon peel lightning bolt floated (an orange peel star floated would not be out of place either).
Two Fridays ago, our new cocktail list was going live but one of my creations still needed a name. In dismantling the Tarzan Boy from the soon-to-be old list, the passion fruit syrup was transferred to the Italian Stallion and the Campari needed a home. Finding that fruit liqueurs seem to modulate Campari in interesting and less bitter ways, I tinkered with St. George's Spiced Pear Liqueur and uncovered that it made for an excellent combination. Soon, gin and Lillet came into formation to make a variation on a classic Negroni. With the menu needing to be printed, two of the owners assisted me on the name. One proposed a David Bowie tribute. While I honed in on Moonage Daydream, another suggested Life on Mars which quite fit the color scheme here. The first few to be made the first two nights lacked a garnish for the fruit ingredients provided quite a pleasant nose, but bartender Tyler Murphy thought that a lemon lightning bolt would be perfect. Part of the sales of the Life on Mars goes to the Jimmy Fund cancer charity in honor of Bowie.