italian buck

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1 1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass (Moscow Mule mug), add 3 oz ginger beer (Reed's), fill with ice, and garnish with a lime wheel. Note: the recipe in Boudreau's book is scaled down to 1 oz each of the amari and 1/2 oz lime juice; the ginger beer amount is the same but the garnish is a lime wedge.
Two Mondays ago, I reached for Brad Parsons' Amaro book and came across the Italian Buck that reminded me of the unopened bottle of ginger beer in my refrigerator. The recipe was crafted by Jamie Boudreau at Seattle's Cannon featuring two bitter liqueurs in a Buck format similar to the Fernet Buck at Deep Ellum. I followed the recipe that Parsons provided, but I later checked in Boudreau's book, The Canon Cocktail Book and noted that some of the volumes were adapted (see the note in the instructions above). Boudreau also commented in his book that, "While the Cynar carries all the funky bitter vegetal notes, the Montenegro helps round it out with its abundance of citrusy flavors." Once prepared, the Italian Buck welcomed the nose with lime, ginger, and orange aromas. Next, a carbonated caramel and lime sip bucked into ginger, funky herbal, and clementine flavors on the swallow.