<br />For years, a Gin & Tonic has been a standard for me, especially on hot summer days. After drinking "All Hail To The Arsenal" it has taken over that long revered spot. It's more complex in taste: Consider instead of gin, tonic, and lime juice, you now have also more lime juice, Campari, Triple Sec, and Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters. A far more complex drink, indeed. Some may find Camparai's bitterness unpleasant despite the addition of other ingredients. Perhaps reducing the amount of Campari from 1oz to 3/4 oz may do the trick. Others may want to reduce the lime juice to 3/4 oz. I was hesitant to put 1 oz of lime juice, but in my opinion, it worked ouf fine. Try, experiment, and imbibe what I consider to be a fine summer drink.

Fantastic drink, Rafa. Lovely bitter-dominant style. I'd recommend giving the mint a slap before putting it in as garnish; I wasn't really aware it was there until right at the end (presumably after it had been beaten up a bit by the ice).

Why the name? Is it 'comes round' as in 'visits', or as in 'wakes up after a few too many cocktails'?

Leslie,

Thank you so much for trying it!

Re: the garnish, I almost always slap my mint (not as dirty as it sounds) before inserting it in the drink (ditto). I should probably make a note of it in the instructions, though, instead of assuming that all KC users would do the same. The mint aromas should bring out the mint/menthol of the Fernet more (you mentioned on eGullet that you didn't notice it much).

The story of the name is as follows: after enjoying a mezcal-heavy drink and a Cynar-driven one at the New York bar Pouring Ribbons, my companions and I took the subway home and were joined for several stops by two tweedy guitar-carrying dudes absolutely tearing it up with a set of Johnny Cash covers, including "The Man Comes Around," about the end of days. When I got home I combined the two drinks I'd had, added Spanish brandy, and adjusted the ratios slightly, and decided the resulting drink was black and bitter enough to be worthy of a name by the Man in Black.

Glad you enjoyed it!, and thanks again.

-R

Oh my. This was fantastic. I basically bought the Xocolatl bitters because I saw so many raves about this drink. I used Vida and Ferrand Ambre (did not have Spanish brandy or sherry).

My question is how many Bittermen's drops is a dash? I used the 15-18 suggested on the Kindred Bittermen's page, but that didn't correspond to the 1/4 length of the dropper that the page says.

Either way, this is great.

Thank you! I was actually just having a discussion about what constitutes a Bittermens dash with KC's own Stew. Bittermens' Avery Glasser says 6 drops = a dash.

Interesting. I wonder why it said 15-18 drops = a dash here.

Just perfect. Rich, smooth, smokey and chocolatey.

FrogPrincess on eGullet reports that even 1/4oz of syrup is plenty and perhaps none even better.

I would start with a teaspoon for mouthfeel and balance and add more to taste, though I agree that 1/2 oz is overkill.

Excellent. Surprisingly balanced. I used white grapefruit.

fantastic!

I used cinnamon syrup, halved the maraschino, and added 1/2 oz of Falernum.  Delicious.