Easy on the Leather

Pete Maben, Buckman Public House | Portland, OR

The opposite of a float, which sits on top of a drink, is a seat, which by design nestles at the bottom of a glass. “It’s like an easy Pousse Café,” Buckman’s Maben explains. “Most Pousse Cafés can be bad, but I love the look of them and how they change [as you drink]. That’s why he created the fall-ready Easy on the Leather, with a seat of bright red Cappelletti. The first sips offer nutty spice, which Maben likens to “a breakfast pastry cinnamon bar.” But the motion of tilting the glass to sip mixes the Cappelletti in, adding a pleasingly bitter note. Plus, he says, “it looks really cool.”

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 3/4 ounce Cappelletti Aperitivo Americano Rosso
  • 3/4 ounce Cappelletti Aperitivo Americano Rosso
  • 1/2 ounce overproof bourbon, preferably Medley Brothers
  • 1/2 ounce overproof bourbon, preferably Medley Brothers
  • 3/4 ounce cachaça, preferably Avua Amburana
  • 3/4 ounce cachaça, preferably Avua Amburana
  • 3/4 ounce pecan orgeat
  • 3/4 ounce pecan orgeat
  • 1 dash Scrappy's cardamom bitters
  • 1 dash Scrappy's cardamom bitters

Directions
  1. Pour the Cappelletti over a large ice cube in a 10-ounce rocks glass.
  2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir until chilled.
  3. Strain into the rocks glass, pouring directly over the ice cube so that the cocktail "floats" over the Cappelletti.