night tripper

1 3/4 oz Bourbon (Old Forester 100°)
3/4 oz Averna
1/2 oz Strega (*)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.
(*) Although the drink was published this way, the creator prefers 1/4 oz. See text.

Two Sundays ago, I came across a Chris Hannah recipe that he created during his days at Arnaud's French 75 and still serves at Jewel of the South called the Night Tripper. With a Bourbon, amaro, Strega, and bitters combination, it reminded me of his Rebennack, and of course his love of Strega made me think of his 'Round Midnight and Accoutrement (and it inspired me to craft the North of Sunset in his style). The drink was his tribute to the late musical legend Dr. John and dubbed after one of the musician's nicknames. Chris assembled this as one of his Mardi Gras flask cocktails, and it was named shortly after Dr. John's float passed by. Strangely, I found three recipes for this all varying by the amount of Strega in them: the James Beard site had 1/4 oz, Imbibe had 1/2 oz, and Punch Drinks had 3/4 oz. I figured that the sweeter one would make a better flask cocktail, and I ended up going with the middle one especially since it added up to a perfect 3 oz build. When I posted it on Instagram, Chris replied, "This looks lovely, it is 1/4 oz and with Strega being scarce nowadays it should stay that way."The Night Tripper started up with orange, caramel, and spice aromas. The sip approached with Averna's caramel notes, and the swallow passed by with Bourbon, herbal, minty-pine, and anise flavors.