catch-22

3/4 oz Batavia Arrack (1 1/4 oz von Oosten)
3/4 oz La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry (1 1/4 oz)
3/4 oz Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb (3/8 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao) (*)
3/4 oz House Chocolate Liquor (3/8 oz Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao) (*)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a flamed orange twist (not flamed).
(*) The house chocolate liquor was an unsweetened recipe as a cacao and vanilla infusion. I adjusted ingredients to make for a more balanced recipe given my sweetened chocolate liqueur.Two Mondays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had spotted on social media from the Left Coast Libations book called the Catch-22. I had previously skipped this recipe for it appeared to0 sweet (not to mention that I only added Fino and Manzanilla sherries in the last year or so, and I certainly did not have them on hand when the book was published ten years ago). The key was that the recipe created by Jackie Patterson at Heaven's Door in San Francisco called for a house chocolate liquor (not liqueur), and there was no sugar in that cacao and vanilla infusion; therefore, I adjusted all the proportions to keep the overall sugar level about the same as intended given my chocolate choice. Once prepared, the Catch-22 met the nose with an orange, chocolate, and rum funk bouquet. Next, a semi-dry sip shared roast notes from the crème de cacao, and the swallow offered up funky Batavia Arrack, chocolate, orange, savory, and briny flavors to round out the drink.