Dirt 'n Diesel

2 oz Virgin Islands Rum, Cruzan Blackstrap
1⁄2 oz Fernet Branca
1⁄2 oz Rich demerara syrup 2:1
1⁄4 oz Cynar
1⁄4 oz Lime juice
1 wdg Lime (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake, strain, straight up, coupe

Cocktail summary
Created by
Cale Green, Tavern Law, Seattle, WA
Year
2010
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

GQ, fall 2010 issue. Annual Manual for Bartenders 2011, Gaz Regan

Curator
Not yet rated
Average
3.5 stars
(12 ratings)
YieldsDrink
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From other users
  • I didn't have this rum and that totally changed this drink. I used Borgoe Extra from Suriname. Should try again if I get the VI rum.
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Comments

I doubled the lime, subbed ginger syrup for the demerera and Pusser's British Navy for the Cruzan Blackstrap (not a fan of the Blackstrap). With these changes I thought this was pretty good.

Dan commented on 4/02/2012:

Made it half the sugar and it was still too sweet, so I doubled the lime. You had better love molasses if you want to like this drink. Personally, I think the Fernet overpowers the Cynar, but really, the molasses overpowers them both. Next time, I'd try my existing changes, plus inverting the Fernet / Cynar ratio and splitting the rum with a dry white rum without molasses -- maybe even an agricole. Or cachaca.

I saw a rendition of this at a local favorite bar of mine using Pyrat XO Reserve. As I love that rum I tried my hand at it at home. One of the best rum cocktails I've had in a long time.

 A bit too sour. I added a dash of Peychaud's bitters and for some crazy reason 1/4 oz Pama Pomegranate liqueur. Maybe too weird, but something sweet might help or maybe lime is too much on original.  Needs a bit of work...

oogies commented on 5/03/2019:

Used Goslings black in place of of the blackstrap. Heavy on raw molasses flavor. Almost has a bit of a charred flavor to me (which i don't mind). Pretty good overall but not blowing me away

I had bookmarked this recipe in Gaz's book years ago as it has several of my favorite ingredients but never got around to making it.  Was searching through his MixologyTech app recently and it popped up again, so decided to give it a whirl.  My first thought was I'd definitely need to make some alterations--the only .25 oz lime must be a misprint (especially after seeing some of the comments here), and I thought for sure I'd have to split the Blackstrap with another dark rum--much as I'm not a fan of the all Blackstrap Jungle Bird--but I first made it as spec'd (excepting I used 1:1 demerara syrup).  And it works, at least for me.  I did try a version with a 1:1 split of Blackstrap to Diplomatico Mantuano and .5 oz lime juice, and the flavors were just muddied and less intense than the original. While the flavor profile is a bit one note, I give it 4 stars for challenging my pre-conceived ratio notion.

jb3689 commented on 4/13/2022:

Not as wild as I was expecting. The lime really does a good job cutting through all the strong flavors. The savory of the Cynar lends itself well to the brightness of the lime and the spice of the Cruzan. The Fernet clashes a bit with the lime for me, but does link it better to the Cruzan. Not a favorite by any means, but decent and some people will enjoy it