The Maynard
Grandpa Tarpy loved sweets. Ice cream bars coated in waxy chocolate; grape and orange soda; Russell Stover butter mints, the creamy pastel candies separated by colors in a round pink tin. Then there was my favorite – A&W root beer – especially when Grandpa plopped a big scoop of vanilla ice cream in my glass. My parents forbid most anything with sugar, so Grandpa’s stash made me anxious with desire. Comforted by the cold, sweet, slightly bitter treat, I was momentarily free of dad’s usual judgment and gulped my way to a brain freeze.
Makes 1 drink
2 ounces Myers’s dark rum
1 ounce root beer reduction (see below)
¼ ounce ginger liqueur
¼ ounce fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon Fernet-Branca
Ice
Large sprig fresh mint
Add the rum, root beer reduction, ginger liqueur, lime juice, and Fernet to a shaker. Add ice and shake to chill. Strain into a rocks glass and fill with ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Root Beer Reduction: Simmer 1 cup root beer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until ¼ cup, about 12 minutes.
