Scrappy's Perfect — A split-vermouth vodka cocktail finished with chocolate bitters

Scrappy's Perfect

A split-vermouth vodka cocktail finished with chocolate bitters

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 2 ozVodka
    Clean and neutral; everything else is flavour
  • 2 dashesScrappy's Chocolate Bitters
    Two or three; cocoa against the vanilla
    Substitute: Another chocolate bitters
  • 1/2 ozDry Vermouth
    Half of the split
  • 1/2 ozSweet Vermouth
    The other half, and where perfect gets its name
  • 1/4 ozLicor 43
    Vanilla and citrus; a quarter ounce is plenty

Instructions

  1. Add 2 oz vodka, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 1/4 oz Licor 43 and 2 dashes chocolate bitters to a mixing glass
  2. Fill with ice and stir until properly cold

    Long; dilution is the only body this drink gets

  3. Strain into a chilled coupe
  4. Express a lemon twist over the surface

Technique Notes

Stir it long. There is no citrus and no sugar syrup here, only a quarter ounce of Licor 43 against two ounces of vodka, so dilution is the only thing giving the drink body before the bitters arrive.

Why the Scrappy's Perfect Works

Chocolate bitters are cocoa nib and spice with no sugar in them, so they read as bitterness rather than as dessert. Against a split vermouth they pick up the sweet vermouth's dried fruit, and Licor 43's vanilla gives the cocoa somewhere to land.