This cocktail is my favorite of the ones I have created. Gary “Gaz” Regan even named it one of the best cocktails of 2016. I appreciate Billy Helmkemp’s (The Whistler) persistence for pushing me to submit it for review. If first appeared on a menu at the Berkshire Room (15 E. Ohio, Chicago) and I wrote about it when I was doing some freelance work for Valet. Magazine.

If you have ever lived in Chicago and relied on the CTA for transportation you have surely heard “BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Your attention please there are workers on the tracks ahead…”.

The inspiration for this drink came from making dealers choices. At Berkshire that was the shtick. A guest could order a drink by any combination of spirit, flavor profile, and glassware. We saw a lot of "Vodka, Fruity, Coupe" and "Whiskey, Strong and Stirred, Rocks" day in and day out. My goal was to figure out a complex drink that changed as you drank it...but only had two other ingredients aside from the base. This is what came out after about a year of tinkering. Starts out almost too sweet...but a second or two on ice and it mellows into a drink you will order again. I have written this one on so many napkins it isn't funny.

Workers on the Tracks

In a Chilled and Iced Mixing Glass:
40 ml Bonded Bourbon
10 ml Yellow Chartreuse
10 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao

Stir and strain over a large rock.
Garnish with an orange peel.

Enjoy,
Luke