New Cocktails: the Gioiello

I was in the mood for something bitter and stirred this evening. That led me to the Tailspin from Dr Bamboo's old blog. While I liked the look, the scale and sweetness gave me pause. A bit more research landed me on Imbibe's version of the Bijou, which looked promising with more emphasis on the gin. But I still wasn't sure about, so I decided to cut the proportions in half to reduce the load on my liver and replace the sweet vermouth with an Italian fortified wine.

Gioiello

0.75 oz gin

0.5 oz Cocchi Americano
0.4 oz green Chartreuse
1 dash orange bitters

The aromas lead with intense herbal notes from the Chartreuse, slightly leavened by juniper and citrus. The sip opens with syrupy sweet herbs, slides through grape from the vermouth, and goes into the finish with a burst of black pepper and juniper from the gin. The finish is once again focused on the Chartreuse, dueling with black pepper, orange peel, and juniper.

While I like this drink, I can see two potential directions to take it. One is to amp up the bitterness by splitting the Cocchi with a dry vermouth. Another is to nudge it in a sour direction with a teaspoon or so of lemon juice. Both would rein in the syrupy character while leaving the fundamental profile of the drink largely intact.