First and, I guess, foremost: When I say “JC,” I’m talking ’bout Jersey City, not Jesus Christ. Although now that I mention it, perhaps this post’s/cocktail’s name will SEO some hyperChristians my way. In which case, give God the glory and pass me the bar nuts, flock! I think Jesus was a cool dude with lots of nice things to say — even if he did prefer wine over the hard stuff.

Second: The cool dude who’s the real star of this post is my cousin-in-law Christ, the inventor of this cocktail and a Jersey-proud resident of the O JC. So proud, in fact, that the native New Jersey an lives on Jersey Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey. Or, as he’s dubbed the sum-total effect of his address… SuperJersey.

Last month the PhoBlograpHusband, the baby and I were down in JC for a visit and Chris turned me on to a hard-stuff sipper he’d whipped up: A nice draw of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, flavor-spiked with a bunch of bitters; the combo he shared with me on that day was 3 dashes Fee Brothers Cranberry Bitters, 2 dashes Fee Brothers Peach Bitters and 1 dash of Fee Brothers Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters.

OK, you know how, like, when you’re a chef at a sushi place, or a resto that mainly serves charcuterie, your job is pretty much to be a top-shelf sourcer — to just track down and procure the best ingredients, then stay the hell out of their way? That’s what the Super JC is like.

I probably should go on and on about Tito’s here, but I’ll let the Internet do the talking on that. Suffice it to say Tito’s — well, there are probably vodkaficionados who think that Tito’s is the Secondcoming, and it’s very, very, very smooth and let’s just leave it at that. Also, if you follow this blog, you know that Fee Brothers is practically the only bitters I stock. Likewise, I really don’t know if I would bother making this drink with a vodka besides Tito’s, because you want that smoothness so that there isn’t a hint of shiver getting in the way of your bitterific finish.

So anyway, I knew all along that Chris had this sort of surprise-wizard-genius side to him — he’s good at coming out of seeming nowhere and blowing your mind, walk-on-water-style (ask him sometime about the amazeballs speech he pulled out of his drunk butt at cousin Tim’s rehearsal dinner). And I knew this was one of those times, and it needed to be blogged.

One tweak I made (because of course I had to): I swapped out the peach for rhubarb bitters. Just has a bit of a brighter, tarter flavor to it. Sorry, Chris; I know that’s not very kosher of me. This drink is the bomb, by the way.

The Super JC

3 ounces Tito’s Handmade Vodka

3 dashes Fee Brothers Cranberry Bitters

2 dashes Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters

1 dash Fee Brothers Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters

Combine vodka and all bitters in an ice-filled mixing glass. Stir briskly with a bar spoon for about a minute. Strain into an ice-filled glass of choice. (You’ll see in the pics that I prefer a stemless wineglass for this drink.)