Dirt and Diesel

Today I would like to present one of my all-time favorite cocktails, the Dirt and Diesel. This drink is reminiscent of the much more traditional Corn N' Oil, a potion of blackstrap rum and falernum, a tiki ingredient that I promise I will make one of these days. The Dirt and Diesel was invented by a bartender at one of my favorite Seattle bars, Tavern Law, and it truly does have an industrial sort of flavor from Cynar and Fernet Branca.

Dirt and Diesel(by Cale Green, Tavern Law and Needle & Thread, Seattle)2 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum (Kraken).5 oz Fernet-Branca.5 oz Demerara sugar syrup.25 oz Cynar.25 oz lime juiceShake over ice and double-strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

To be honest, the Cynar is not very prominent in this drink, hiding as it is behind double its volume of Fernet Branca, but it is there if you look for it. When I first tasted this drink at the bar, I went home that same night and tried to replicate it out of my own head. I came pretty close, but I mixed up the proportions of the half ounce and quarter ounce ingredients. It looked like this:

Poorly-Recreated Dirt and Diesel1.5 oz Black Strap Rum (Kraken).5 oz lime juice.5 oz Cynar.25 oz Fernet Branca.25 oz Demerara sugar syrup

My version was too juicy, and not as balanced, so don't make it, except switching the Fernet and Cynar is a fun variation. As for the real version of the drink, it is one of my all-time favorite mixed drinks, and an excellent way to enjoy that queen of spirits, Fernet Branca. If you do not have Fernet Branca in your home bar, what are you doing, son?Also, a word on Demerara sugar syrup; Demerara sugar, or turbinado sugar, or "sugar in the raw", for those of us who are ready, is not as sweet by volume as more refined sugars, and must be made in a ratio of 2:1 sugar:water in order to be adequately sweet. If you don't have any Demerara sugar, or you are very lazy, I won't be offended if you make brown sugar syrup instead, and probably no one will really know, but you'll know, and that should be enough to move your conscience.As with the Whiskey Fix, photo credit goes to my friends Michael Schmid, John Sim, and Matt Barraro.