beach yowie

1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila (Lunazul)
1 1/2 oz Mango Juice (Trader Joe's 100% Juice)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup
1/8 oz (1 bsp) Fernet Branca

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe rimmed with Chinese 5 Spice-salt, and garnish with citrus (floated dried lemon wheel).

Just like last year, I signed up to participate in the Secret Santé event on Instagram organized by ServedBySoberon. The event which garnered 169 participants this year has each Instagram (home)bartender assigned to a person who they create a drink to celebrate or pay tribute to them. My assignment was CocktailsMandurah -- an Australian named Kori who loves Margaritas, pretty drinks, fancy rimmed glasses, amaro, vanilla, and tropical juices. Since I had an unopened can of mango juice, my idea began to take shape with tequila, vanilla syrup, and lime juice with the Jungle Bird as a structure. As accents, a few dashes of Fernet Branca in the mix and a Chinese five spice and salt rim rounded out the combination.
For a name, I considered the fact that Kori is in Western Australia where it is currently summer; to make the drink more exotic, I conjured up the idea of a Yowie, a Bigfoot creature that haunts the Outback, on the beach to surf away Christmas. Once prepared, the Beach Yowie met the nose with clove and anise spice aromas from the rim along with mango and a hint of menthol from the drink itself. Next, mango and lime on the sip swam into tequila, tropical, and vanilla flavors on the swallow with a hint of Fernet's bitter herbal notes on the finish.