Sometimes a spirit is so good you don't need to mix with it. Simply serving it in a particular way achieves a cocktail in a way that serving it neat does not. I'm thinking of the Snowball series of drinks with anise liqueurs and the Scotch Mist, which I realize is a brother of this drink and one I would have done better with crushed ice, which I didn't do the first time I made this drink.
The effect of this quickly melting ice and the lemon zest is that the flavors brighten considerably and the spirit opens up with the cold water. You can better appreciate something like amaretto, which is usually too thick and sugary to get a handle on when taken warm and neat.
- 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
- crushed ice
- lemon twist
Build the drink in an Old Fashioned glass with crushed ice. Twist lemon peel over the glass and drip it in.
