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Gunshop Fizz

Two glasses of Peychaud's bitters lemon juice simple syrup strawberries grapefruit oranges San Pellegrino Sanbittèr and...
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

Maks Pazuniak and Kirk Estopinal, two of the bartenders at celebrated New Orleans cocktail bar Cure, gained notoriety among their peers in 2009 by publishing a small but mighty recipe book called Rogue Cocktails. It bore the air of a manifesto; in it were drinks that bucked many of the conventions of how to build a cocktail. (They released an expanded version in 2011 under the title Beta Cocktails.) The Gunshop Fizz was the sublime standard-bearer for their offbeat style: the nonsensical-yet-somehow-works recipe leads with two full ounces of Peychaud’s bitters—an ingredient that normally goes into drinks in dashes. A caution: The Gunshop Fizz will quickly drain your Peychaud’s bottle, making it pricey to produce. —Roger Kamholz

Note: If you cannot find (or don't wish to pay for) Sanbittèr, a delicious but also rather costly and uncommon Italian soft drink, in order to top off the drink, then instead use a 1:2 ratio combination of Campari and fresh, well-charged soda water (¾ ounce Campari and 1½ ounces soda will do the trick). As a sub, this delivers on the complex bitterness of the Sanbittèr, but leaves the drink slightly drier.

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    5 minutes

  • Yield

    Makes 1

Ingredients

3 4” grapefruit twists
3 4” orange twists
3 cucumber slices, ¼” thick, divided
2 strawberries, hulled
2 oz. Peychaud’s bitters
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
About 2¼ oz. San Pellegrino Sanbittèr (see note)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine three 4” grapefruit twists, three 4” orange twists, 2 cucumber slices, ¼” thick, 2 strawberries, hulled, and 2 oz. Peychaud’s bitters in a cocktail shaker. Muddle gently to break up fruit (do not pulverize); set aside for 2 minutes.

    Step 2

    Add 1 oz. fresh lemon juice, 1 oz. simple syrup (1:1), and ice to shaker and shake until exterior is chilled, about 20 seconds. Double strain, using a cocktail strainer and a fine-mesh strainer, into an ice-filled Collins glass. Fill glass with about 2¼ oz. San Pellegrino Sanbittèr. Garnish with remaining cucumber slice.

TagsEpicuriousCocktailAlcoholBeveragesDairyStrawberryBerryFruitLemonCitrusCucumberVegetableBitters

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