Hard Maybe

Easy to make, easy to drink

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I've been playing around a lot with ChatGPT lately to research drinks and tweak my own creations. It's been really helpful, and for the most part it seems to understand me and work with my ideas. For anyone who's used it for anything like writing or research, you know it has limitations. It's a useful tool but in the end you always have to teak it to get it right. It's really about generating ideas. So, I posed the question about how to create a simple crowd-pleasing cocktail that's easy to make at any bar, but not a riff on any existing cocktail. I went through a dozen or so recipes, none of which quite worked, but the logic was always sound. The genesis of this one was intriguing but ultimately it took my fine tuning to get it right but I think I got it. Simple, easy to make, easy to drink, easy to order. Gender neutral, simple ingredients, makes you want another.

The title took longer than the drink. Lots of ideas, many interesting ones, and although AI didn't name this, it led me in the right direction. Is it perfect? That's a Hard Maybe. Try it, tell me what you think.

Hard Maybe

• 2 oz brandy (or cognac)

• 1 oz Aperol

• 1 oz grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed but bottle works also)

Shake, strain, serve on the rocks.

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