e.c. cobbler

1 1/2 oz Blandy's 5 year Sercial Madeira
1/2 oz Averna
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass. Fill with crushed ice, garnish with a lemon twist and grated nutmeg, and add a straw.
In turning over the menu at Loyal Nine for Spring, I wanted to change the stirred low proof offering to a second one with citrus. Since there has been an upswing of tickets for sherry and madeira Cobblers over the last few months thanks to one server's love of them, I decided to put a Cobbler on the menu. I, of course, opted for madeira since it along with rum and brandy are the trio of spirits popular during the Colonial era that our restaurant focuses on and despite the sherry Cobbler being the delicious default for the style. After hacking through some combinations, herbal Averna, spiced cinnamon syrup, and crisp lemon juice rounded out the dry madeira with perhaps some direction from my I Can't Dance last summer. For a name, I searched for shoe cobblers and producers in the restaurant's neighborhood but could only find information about the old Sears shoe factory between there and Central Square. The Cambridge Cobbler was sort of decided on -- until it appeared on the menu as the E.C. Cobbler for East Cambridge and the gang sign I like to flash with my hands when describing the Loyal Nine neighborhood.