This is a great mix for the kind of in-between weather we’ve been having in Rochester for the past couple of weeks—a bourbon cocktail with interesting bitter and sour notes, served on a big old rock. This is the “Panic Button,” which Imbibe magazine credits to the Living Room Bar at Charleston’s Dewberry Hotel.

THE PANIC BUTTON
1½ oz Bourbon of choice
¾ oz Averna
½ oz Campari
½ oz Heering cherry liqueur
¼ oz fresh lemon juice

Shake all the ingredients with ice to chill, strain into a cocktail coupe holding a single cube or large ball of (preferably clear) ice.

Very, VERY delicious – extremely well balanced between sweet and bitter/sour. Surprising, with all that Averna, Campari and lemon juice, but it’s true—it’s perfectly balanced and tasty.

And now, please excuse me – my CLEAR ICE CUBE outlasted the cocktail. Gotta go mix another.