The Bittersweet Garden
Ingredients:
1.25oz Campari
1oz Gin
.5oz Green Chartreuse
.5oz Dolin Blanc
.25oz Fernet Branca
Scant bar spoon Maraschino
Orange twist
Instructions:
Add the Campari, Gin, Green Chartreuse, Dolin Blanc and Maraschino to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Rim a chilled cocktail glass with the Fernet Branca (do not discard the excess). Strain into the glass and express the oils of the orange twist, rim the glass and leave it in the glass.
Notes:
- In an effort to combine two favorites, Green Chartreuse and Campari, The Bittersweet Garden came to life. The Campari, Chartreuse, and Fernet build a complex interplay of herbs, bitters and citrus, while the botanicals in the gin build a base. A hint of sweet cherry Maraschino adds some contrast to the predominantly bitter herbal flavor.
- Sweet and citrus botanicals on the nose. Initially, The Bittersweet Garden is all sugar and orange on the tongue. The herbal complexity and licorice in the Chartreuse and Fernet build to a sweet cherry, citrus and lingering bitter finish.
- The Bittersweet Garden is perfect for those who enjoy the combination of herbs and botanicals with bitter amari, contrasted with a hint of sweet cherry to balance it all out. Tasting somewhere between the classic Fancy Free and the borrowed Eeyore’s Requiem, this one is sure to please.
The Straight Up 
7 Responses to “The Bittersweet Garden”
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[…] The Bittersweet Garden […]
[…] are just getting into cocktails by the complexity and shopping trip required to make a drink like The Bittersweet Garden or Eeyore’s […]
[…] there is my really loosely interpreted version, The Bittersweet Garden, which works Green Chartreuse into the […]
[…] I’ve never tried one with an absinthe rinse. I’ve even done a whiskey version of The Bittersweet Garden, which is Boulevardier-esque and has some anise flavor from the Green Chartreuse (likely to show up […]
Ok, tried the Bittersweet Garden as you suggested. Love it! I am just realizing not only how much I love Campari, but also how dominant it is in a drink. It just integrates both the Fernet and Chartreuse without breaking stride. The B.G. is kind of like a Negroni on herbal steroids.
Awesome! Glad you liked it. It’s one of my favorite drinks, if I do say so myself. I make a “Boulevardier” version w/ Rye and regular Sweet Vermouth that I might like even better (depends on mood). While similar, I like it so much it may end up on the site sometime soon as it’s own drink. I agree w/ the herbal steroids assessment.
Also you may have seen but I incorporated your absinthe idea into a charcoal aged boulevardier, only I flamed it on top. Check out Smoke in the Woods. I’ve also enjoyed rinsing the glass with it as well. Really good idea.