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A Spontaneous Libation for your Consideration

Mugshot Shawty

Created and posted by yarm.
1 1⁄2 oz Bourbon
1⁄2 oz Fernet Branca
1⁄2 oz Campari
1⁄2 oz Strega
Instructions

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice. No garnish needed — just let the liqueurs' aromatic spices and botanicals shine through.

History

I became inspired by the previous night's Burning Times of gin, Strega, Fernet, and bitters and wanted to tinker. Since Campari and Strega paired together rather well such as in the Rachel Wall and the Count's Swizzle, I turned this into a Ferrari (Fernet-Campari) adventure. For a spirit, I considered apple brandy, American whiskey, gin, or a split base, and I opted for Bourbon for it offered a rich and relatively smooth canvas to paint these bold liqueur flavors onto. The Italian trio of liqueurs made me think of organized crime which got me thinking of mugshots that led me to the phenomenon of attractive arrest photos, so I dubbed this one the Mugshot Shawty.

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From the Knowledge Vault

Craft Cocktail Making: Theory and Structure of Bitterness

So far we’ve investigated the role that acidity and sugar play in the creation of craft cocktails. While sugar predates acidity in cocktail history, these building blocks can be thought of as a pair – acidity and sugar directly oppose each other. When sugar overpowers acidity, drinks become cloying and heavy. With the reverse, drinks are tart, thin, and unpleasant. It is only when sweetness and acidity balance each other that a cocktail takes on a savory deliciousness that I call tension.

The sweet-sour balance is not the only way to create a craft cocktail. Before the invention of the sour family, cocktails were merely spirit, sugar, water and bitters. This category of drinks, now best exemplified by the Old Fashioned derives their deliciousness through the mitigating effects of sugar on the bitterness of wood-aged spirits and bitters.

The previous articles have stayed clear of any serious chemistry. Unfortunately, bitter and alcohol have a lot going on that needs some explanations, and chemistry provides the language. [editor: Nerd warning. Suck it up.]

Recent Additions

  • 20thC Christmas Cake — Gin, Crème de Cacao, Maraschino Liqueur, Lemon juice, Rich simple syrup 2:1, Vanilla extract
  • Transdermal Celebration — Mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, Passion fruit liqueur
  • Pisco Fever — Pisco, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, Lemon juice, Simple syrup, Cucumber
  • Golden Plane Ticket — Bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Aromatized wine, Grapefruit bitters, Grapefruit peel
  • Amber Thrill — Bourbon, Apple brandy, Pumpkin liqueur, Bitters, Lemon juice

Recent Discussion

  • Re Transdermal Celebration, 8 hours 55 minutes ago Shawn C commented:

    I thought this combo sounded familiar, turns out I had experimented with the above in September 2026, with the addition of lime juice, but that trended toward sour, so I switched to lemon juice and added some Damiana to balance. I haven't named it yet.
    The listed cocktail has a great name, and good overall flavor, but the mouthfeel is a bit thick from the Chinola. There are various combinations of related Mezcal/Chinola/Ancho Reyes drinks out there but they almost all use lime, lemon, or pineapple juice which thin the Chinola thickness.

  • Re Odeon, 3 days 10 hours ago Shawn C commented:

    Lightly curated and published (changed title from allcaps, and re-wording on straining). I happened to have the Cointreau Noir, which is a relaunch of Cointreau's original brandy based triple sec (think Grand Marnier.) I picked up the Cointreau Noir some years ago to match two dozen 1920's French cocktail book recipes that called for "Majestic" which had long been discontinued. After looking through some of the 1920's French ads I realized that Majestic had been a Cointreau offering at the time, and the recipe was the basis for the Noir relaunch/renaming.

  • Re super haymaker, 3 days 11 hours ago Shawn C commented:

    I would stir rather than shake this. I didn't have the Evangelista abruzzo punch, but the description of it being a rum based Italian liqueur led me to using Borsci San Marzano instead. The difference is the latter won't have the citrus aspect. The result was complex with the tea like character of the Alpeggio being noticeable here.

  • Re Sharpie Mustache, 5 days 14 hours ago lesliec commented:

    Great with Suze and Luxardo Amaro Abano. Kind of eucalypt notes to my palate.

  • Re Cardinale (Naren Young), 5 days 15 hours ago mako commented:

    Thanks for the curation and for the fixes. Someone should add the "real" one.