Bitter Sweet Symphony with Lucano

Hailing from the small town of Pisticci in Lucania, Italy, Amaro Lucano is made from a secret blend of 30-plus herbs and essential oils. Established in 1894, it remains as a family run business. It does a great job to achieve a complex taste profile and remain pretty modest in sweetness and bitterness. The most noticeable nose and the flavor is the subtle minty profile along with herbal finish such as cardamon and curry leaf.

I decided to make a tiki-inspired drink without any juice, to just reflect its sweet and bitter taste with a minty profile.

Recipe

1 oz Smith and Cross rum

1 oz Lucano Amaro

0.75 oz lime juice

0.25 oz Cream de Menthe

0.25 oz Calamansi marmalade

0.5 oz salted pandan syrup

2 dashes of pineapple bitters

Garnish: a few sprigs of mint

Nutmeg shaves

Method:

Add all ingredients to a short shake, strain into a snifter glass, add more crushed ice. Shave nutmeg.