Adios, El Negroni. You were good. Yes, there comes a time when the old death shroud must be pulled over the big favorites. This was a forced demise, which for better or worse, pushes me to have to come up with new shit. I’ve thought about this for a little while now. We’ve got the seasonal section of the menu which changes often and then the “signature” side which hasn’t really changed, well, ever…Not for many years anyway. The staples are on there. Hmm. I can’t imagine changing any of them but then again…It’s got to happen at some point. No?

God it jangles the old nostalgia nerves when I try to think of what it looked like before my time. I think I can pull it up from the memory banks. The old Ranfer menu from when I first stared at Rustic…Let’s see. At the tippy top was the Angeleno a Manhattan/boulevardier mix up with Redemption Rye, Atxa Red Vermouth, Grand Poppy Amaro, and orange bitters. Then an old fashioned, also with Redemption Rye. These were followed by a line of gin cocktails. The first–Rosemary’s Baby–Gin and vermouth stirred quickly with a spring of rosemary, strained into a coupe, then topped with prosecco. The Beet Royale used leftover beet syrup, lemon juice and shit, I can’t remember, gin again I think. Yup, maybe with old tom though. Oh yeah, there was also something called The Honest Pimms. This was Gin, cucumber juice, Leopold’s cherry and orange. All topped with ginger beer. Ah, yes, also a vodka mule and a penicillin at the bottom.

So yeah, gin and rye heavy. Not a bad thing.

Of course, the big kahuna back in the day was the Marjorita. A spicy, tequila Eastsider that dominated the printer and still does on occasion, usually weekends. We used a repo called Dos Armadillos and hand muddled the mint, added a dash of spicy bitters and a half ounce of elderflower liquor. Done. I changed this one in name (now the “Marjie” because the punters couldn’t pronounce it) and recipe when I took over because, muddling. I fucking hate muddling. I went to Chef Fox, he gave some advice on how to do a decent mint syrup and then boom. Here’s the recipe if you’re curious.

The old menu was mostly signature with two or three seasonals, sometimes four, following at the bottom of the page. I have no recollection of when it all switched over. When I first started I had a bourbon and carrot juice drink that we sold one or two of, called the Alpha Carotene. Yeesh. I wonder if I’ll hate my current cocktails four years from now? Shit, I’ll probably be dead anyway. Maybe they can bury me with the

Anyway, the El Negroni was the first real good drink on the signature list. It was also a collab between three of us. For whatever reason I thought about making our own version of Ancho Reyes. It was pretty easy. Just infuse ancho chilis into some rum. One of our other bartenders was really into making bitters. He had some mole bitters kicking around. Perfect. The last and final straw was the vermouth portion. I first made the drink with Atxa sweet vermouth, it tasted awful. Our other guy said “Wait a minute” and switched the Atxa for Carpano. Boom. delicious.

El Negroni

1.5 oz. Ancho Infused Dark Rum

.75 oz. Luna Aperitivo

.75 oz. Carpano Antica Formula

4 Dashes Mole Bitters

2 Dashes Cinnamon/Clove Tincture

Stir, pour over a BFR. Express an orange peel over the whole thing.

At any rate, the key ingredient to this beverage, the Luna, is no longer available. I’m not sure if they’re discontinuing it or not or if the distributor is just not bringing it across the country. I love the stuff. Sad face. The website says it’s still there, so who the hell knows? Maybe they need an update?

You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. It’s not a relevant quote. I just wanted to say it.