The introduction of McDonald’s Arch Deluxe in 1996 was a seminal moment for Alexander Kveton. Made with peppered bacon, leaf lettuce and Dijonnaise, the burger was positioned as a sophisticated offering targeted exclusively at adults. Though it ultimately proved to be one of the most expensive product flops of all time, Kveton never forgot the lesson McDonald’s was trying to teach consumers.

“The idea of a flavor being ‘adult’ really struck me,” he recalls. “[The idea] that certain flavors are meant for kids, others for adults, and if you like this, that means you’re an adult.” (For what it’s worth, Kveton didn’t really like the Arch Deluxe, either.)

Over two decades later, now bartending at Brooklyn’s The Rockwell Place, Kveton has continued to play with that dichotomy by creating “adult” versions of childhood soft drinks through the use of amari and vermouths. Early in his career, Kveton noticed that the popular Cocchi di Torino vermouth has a nice cola note, which, when mixed with Cynar, a little absinthe and sparkling water, results in a pleasant soda-like drink with additional notes of cherry and licorice.

“When presenting guests with this, I would say that it is an adult Dr Pepper,” says Kveton. Dr Pepper was first formulated in 1885 by a pharmacist in Waco, Texas, and supposedly consists of 23 flavors, including cherry, amaretto and sarsaparilla. Though he didn’t know it at the time, Kveton’s version of the drink was his first step toward formulating his own take on one of the most incendiary shots of the 1980s.

The Flaming Dr Pepper was created in 1986 by 19-year-old Dave Brinks, who was then helping run the Gold Mine Saloon, his mom’s laid-back neighborhood bar just off of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (The Ptarmigan Club, a bar in Bryan, Texas, also claims to be the “Home of the Flaming Dr Pepper.”) In the age of “shot bars,” Brinks wanted to formulate a new offering that would draw a crowd. He realized that a locally made amaretto—to this day, the exact brand remains a closely guarded secret—presented a lot of Dr Pepper notes, especially when mixed with Miller Lite and Everclear, then lit on fire. The eye-catching, brash, potentially dangerous mixture quickly became a sensation and spread across the country.

“I myself have never served a true Flaming Dr Pepper,” says Kveton. “I believe it had already fallen out of popularity by the time I began bartending.”

Things changed for Kveton, however, when The Rockwell Place faced a typical big-city conundrum. The bar found itself in the midst of five ongoing construction sites, with scaffolding covering its entrance, rendering its location nearly impossible to determine from the street. Kveton and co-owner Joel Tompkins started to joke that they should change the bar’s name to the Hole in the Wall; instead, they decide to launch a new menu around that concept, i.e., drinks one might get at a hole-in-the-wall dive bar, elevated for the modern cocktail drinker.

“A dive is a place for simple drinks: a beer and a shot, a one-and-one [Gin & Tonic, Rum & Coke, whiskey-ginger, etc.], a shaken Martini with no vermouth,” says Kveton. “So, the challenge for me was to figure out what ‘trashy’ drinks or one-and-one combinations I could invoke in a thoughtful yet fun way.”

Already having that “adult” Dr Pepper in his back pocket, a Flaming Dr Pepper seemed like an obvious choice. Of course, a few things had to be rejiggered from the original recipe. For starters, Kveton’s Flaming Dr Pepper is no longer served boilermaker-style, but is instead built like a tall cocktail. To the troika of Cocchi di Torino, Cynar and absinthe, he adds amaretto and an overproof rum blend. Instead of recklessly setting the drink itself on fire, he tops it with a sugar cube, soaked in Everclear and ignited.

“I really wish I could’ve been more faithful to the drink or created a Flaming Moe and lit the drink on fire, but I thought it would be irresponsible,” he explains. Instead, he’s turned a drink that so often celebrates youthful disregard into one more thoughtful, refined and, yes, adult.

“Cocktail bars are not spaces to get drunk as quickly as possible,” says Kveton. “They’re spaces where liquor is meant to be enjoyed.” Plus, he adds, “We’ll always like fire.”