Frisco Club (Death & Co. Recpe)

 

The Death & Co. cocktail book includes this riff on a Pegu Club with Fernet Branca and grapefruit juice. I'm pretty sure that changing the name to Frisco club is a nod to how much the bartenders of San Francisco love Fernet Branca. In the industry this is a well-known fact and anyone in the service industry can count on an out of town San Franciscan to request a shot or cocktail made with the stuff.

The nice thing about this cocktail is that it satisfies the itch of the shaken gin cocktail drinker without putting them off because of the bitterness. Instead, the bitterness gives backbone to the grapefruit juice. A brief note about blood orange liqueur: there's not much of that available. Aperol or in my case, Ambrosia, are fair substitutes with their rich, sweet citrus flavors. 

• 2 oz. gin (Citadelle gin used)
• 1/2 oz. Solerno blood orange liqueur (Don Ciccio & Figili Ambrosia used)
• 1/4 oz. Fernet Branca
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• grapefruit twist garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Squeeze the grapefruit zest over the glass and garnish with it as a twist.