Somewhere in the distance Daveed Diggs asks, “Can we get back to proper drinks?” and I am with him, wholeheartedly. But, I’m tired. The time changed last night and even though it’s only early evening, it feels like midnight. So let’s make something with a little pep to get us through till bedtime. Won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Morning Dew. 

This one comes from the fine folks over at Fernet-Branca and features their excellent bitter amaro. I was skeptical in the beginning, but I am a fan now. It has an unmistakable herbal, bitter thing that grows on you. I’d love to give you a history of the drink but they didn’t have a lot to say on the subject and further research just turns up a bunch of Mountain Dew drinks with this name. Not sure if this one would pep you up as much as a 20 ounce Dew would, but who needs that much sugar cereal in their lives? Plus, I had some left over cold brew coffee, so this was a natural choice. 

This is a stirred drink so grab your mixing pitcher and add 1 1/2 ounces of Fernet-Branca, 1/2 an ounce of sweet vermouth, 1 1/2 ounces of cold brew coffee and 1/2 an ounce of cinnamon simple syrup. Add ice and stir to the beat of Harry Nilsson’s “Gotta Get Up“ till that ice breaks down a bit for a good chill and dilution. Strain into something pretty, like this antique mall find and garnish with a dehydrated lemon. 

I am all over this drink. Yes, Fernet is an acquired taste, but man is this nice. The bitter from the fernet and the coffee balanced by the vermouth and cinnamon. This really works for me. I followed it up with a little ginger ale and that effervescence really opened the drink. I will make this one again and top it with tonic water to experiment soon. 

That’s a nice pick me up for any afternoon and we are going to need it as we ramble around like zombies for the next week adjusting to the pointless time change. There are a lot of problems in this world that are hard to fix, without easy answers, I get that. I also understand that most of our problems are things we brought on ourself. In this one case, though, this seems like an easy fix. Pick a time and stick with it, we will adjust. If you are having trouble deciding which one, split the difference and throw away thirty minutes. That seems like an easy win we could make for ourselves and maybe we could even get the red and the blue teams to agree on this one, as long as we can figure out someway for them to do it without appearing to work together and having to share the credit for doing a good thing. It could happen. What can I say, I’m an optimist. Stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.