Crustas

Since we're on the subject of crustas...  A wonderful and simple drink.  Make it with any spirit.  Brandy crustas and Rum crustas are my other goto's.  I prefer Jamaican rum the best when making the latter.  Like appleton 12 year.  Always make sure to use a high quality spirit, whatever you choose, as this is a drink where your spirit is playing the feature role.

2 ounces Any Spirit (Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Mezcal, Tequila, Eau-De-Vie, etc)
1 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp orange curaçao (lately I like pierre ferrand dry curaçao, though there are lots of good orange liqueurs on the market that could sub)
2 dashes bitters (I like to play around with this, but angostura is always a good bet)

shake and strain into a sugar rimmed wine glass.  Take the peel of the entire circumference of a lemon for garnish.   Cheers!

This is a great one btw for experimentation and improvisation.  As you see below, It's easy to take many cocktails and render them in a crusta format!  Let's take the last word.  Equal parts gin, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse.  Watch this...

2 ounces Gin
1 tsp green chartreuse
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
2 dashes bitters

Blammo, done!  A good way to think about the Crusta is that it's an evolution of an Old-Fashioned.  Instead of just bitters and a sweetener, we're augmenting that with also a bit of liqueur, and just a bit of citrus.  Not enough to make it a sour, just enough to brighten the drink up.  If you're an Old-Fashioned fan, then I suggest you try a Crusta, stat!  Though watch out for those bars that pour in the maraschino, make sure they're making it correctly first!