Gunshop Fizz

Maks Pazuniak and Kirk Estopinal, two of the bartenders at celebrated New Orleans cocktail bar Cure, gained notoriety among their peers in 2009 by publishing a small but mighty recipe book calledRogue Cocktails. It bore the air of a manifesto; in it were drinks that bucked many of the conventions ofhow to build a cocktail. (They released an expanded version in 2011 under the titleBeta Cocktails.) The Gunshop Fizz was the sublime standard-bearer for their offbeat style: the nonsensical-yet-somehow-works recipe leads with two full ounces of Peychaud’s bitters—an ingredient that normally goes into drinks in dashes. A caution: The Gunshop Fizz will quickly drain your Peychaud’s bottle, making it pricey to produce. —Roger Kamholz

Note:If you cannot find (or don't wish to pay for)Sanbittèr, a delicious but also rather costly and uncommon Italian soft drink, in order to top off the drink, then instead use a 1:2 ratio combination ofCampariand fresh, well-charged soda water (¾ ounce Campari and 1½ ounces soda will do the trick). As a sub, this delivers on the complex bitterness of the Sanbittèr, but leaves the drink slightly drier.

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