Will someone please stop the mishegas? I think I have been through more Galliano this month than most establishments go through in a decade. Or two. Last night at Z'Bar I made a drink with Galliano, and the bar manager told me that the bottle* had been there since the opening (which was in 1989). I cannot certify the veracity of this claim as I was in elementary school at the time. However, judging by the condition of the label on the bottle, I would guess that I had not yet graduated from high school when it was opened. Regardless, I have been on a Galliano kick lately and have been looking for a way to rescue it from Harvey Wallbanger oblivion. In Texas the fabulous local citrus products are starting to show up at the farmer's market, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We have Rio Red grapefruits the size of a baby's head, tangerines, satsumas, sour oranges, Mexican limes, Meyer lemons. All sorts of goodies for putting the loca in locavore. If the globe keeps warming, I'll be growing all of this sh*t in Austin in the next few years!

The color of the Dandelion Cocktail is really a lovely pale yellow, though you couldn't tell it from my crappy photo. If anyone wants to swap cocktails for G9 training, I'll trade.

Dandelion Cocktail
1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz. Galliano
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed tangerine juice
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
Shake and fine-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed tangerine peel. (if you do not know the flamed citrus peel, please buy Dale DeGroff's book and school yo' self.) Because of the tangerine's thin skin, it is hard to take off just the zest. It seems like it is easier to do this on the bottom of the fruit. I would flame the tangerine peel but not drop it into the glass (ignore the example in the picture above) because of the bitterness of the pith.

Cynics (and assholes) among you will note that this is just a modified Harvey Wallbanger. I will note that you are just being mean and hateful, and can suck it.