As a songwriter, Jessica Leigh Graves has always appreciated that art created in collaboration can reach levels that an individual doesn’t always reach on their own. Songwriting and intoxicology have a lot in common, it turns out. Flair and creativity, drama and entertainment, the creation of a singular experience by the performer for the audience, writing a song and playing it for an audience, creating a cocktail and mixing it for a bar patron. It’s a very similar dance.

When one of the team members at Midnight Cowboy, Ryan Ehrlichman, contacted us asking if we’d be interested in creating an amaro, we were all about it. He knew he didn’t want it to be red or brown like so many other amari, so he suggested marigold and turmeric for the color, and from there he and Mancuso and Jessica Leigh went back and forth with different herbs and spices in different blends. adjusting and correcting and dialing it in over time.

The final product is Midnight Marigold Bitter Cordial, released April 2019. Bright floral and honeyed citrus on the nose, this boldly bitter and softly sweet liqueur delivers a gentle herbaceous bite of spice with savory coriander and caraway, soft earthy turmeric and subtle marigold flower with a candied ginger and rye bread finish. It can be found not only in drinks made at Midnight Cowboy, but wherever you find Violet Crown Spirits. Ask for it at your local bottle shop or watering hole.