Rope Burn

by Ron Diggity

Of all the drinks I've ever come up with, Rope Burn is my favorite. It's deceptively simple with only three ingredients, four if you count the grapefruit peel. I was honored this year to find it on the summer menu at Caña, and even more honored when I would overhear so many people ordering it again and again. It's awfully close to being a rum negroni, but ingredients like the Smith & Cross rum and the Bonal gentiane liqueur give this brown-bitter-stirred beauty a life of its own.

Rope Burn
1 oz Smith & Cross
1 oz Aperol
1 oz Bonal

Stir, express a grapefruit peel then discard

I credit Justin Pike from The Tasting Kitchen in Los Angeles for introducing me to the Aperol and Bonal combination. A cocktail appears on his menu that uses all amari as ingredients. I find that the Smith & Cross rum takes the bitter elements away and replaces it with funky and sweet notes. All three ingredients could dominate a drink by themselves, but perform remarkably well when mixed together. The grapefruit peel provides just the right amount of acidity to balance the drink out.