el brioso

1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz Crème Yvette
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist an orange peel over the top and discard.

For a nightcap on Monday, I flipped through a few older Imbibe Magazine issues and spotted the El Brioso in the September 2009 one in a section on Crème Yvette drinks. While we had tasted this liqueur at Tales of the Cocktail two months before in July 2009, the article was premature for the liqueur would not be launched until spring 2010 in New York and California. It was autumn of 2010 before the spirit made its way to Massachusetts' shelves. Therefore, it was time to revisit these neglected recipes since we could now make them. The one that appealed most to me was created by John Gertsen of Drink. El Brioso, which translates to "the lively, energetic one," was inspired by the Rosita, and John used the Crème Yvette to balance the Campari's bitterness.
El Brioso greeted me with an orange aroma from the twist, and the Crème Yvette's sweet berry flavors were coupled with hints of citrus from the Dolin Blanc on the sip. The swallow began with Campari and tequila notes and ended with Crème Yvette's violet and the Angostura's spice. Indeed, the Crème Yvette and Campari balanced each other rather well in intensity and thus donated a cohesiveness to the sip-swallow transition.