Exploring Manhattans

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Tonight I had a hankering for a Manhattan, but wanted to play around with the classic 2-1-2 recipe for the drink. Spotting the bottle of the Amaro di Angostura on my shelf brought up memories of the Murray's Manhattan that Dana Hanna introduced me to a few years back. I decided to play around with that, to see what would happen.

The result is a nice, bitter-forward cocktail with the maple and vanilla notes of the bourbon being pretty much overwhelmed by the bitter, chocolate, and cinnamon of the amaro and bitters. The vermouth is there, mellowing the mix, but otherwise pretty much fading into the background.

When I repeat this one, I'll likely not add any additional bitters to the mix, as I think the Amaro di Angostura does an admirable job of filling that roll. Also, I'd use an orange twist (or flame an orange peel over it) as the garnish; it needs a note of citrus to brighten it up. This is a warm drink, one that would be perfect for a crisp fall evening (or a nice August evening in San Francisco.)

Recipe

I split the traditional amount of vermouth between the amaro and vermouth in this one, to stick with the classic recipe while giving it a twist.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. Bourbon (I used Angel's Envy here.)
  • 1/2 oz Amaro di Angostura
  • 1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula)
  • 2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters (I thought using Angostura bitters might be gilding the lily here)

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a mxing glass, add ice, and stir to chill, about 15 seconds
  2. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass
  3. If I were you, I'd flame an orange peel over this one for the garnish

Montenegro After Dark

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It's fun to play with Amari

While I was surfing around the web, I came across this competition-winning recipe on the Shakestir website. This competition was sponsored by the folks who make Amaro Montenegro, one of my favorite Amari, and looked too good not to try. Fortunately I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I whipped up a small batch of demerara syrup, mislabeled the container, and went to work making my evening cocktail. This is a lovely mixture of bitter and sweet, with a nice smokey depth provided by the mezcal. It's well-balanced and goes down pretty smoothly. It should be a lower ABV cocktail, as the main ingredient, the Amaro Montenegro, is only 46 proof.  However, I think the mezcal and bourbon go a long way to providing more a spirit kick. As I sip on this one while I write this blog, I think it would benefit from a large ice cube or ice globe rather than the 3 cubes the recipe calls for; it would benefit from a slower dilution. I'm going to think of Nero Wolfe while I drink this one and maybe reread The Black Mountain this evening. L'chaim!

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. Amaro Montenegro
  • 1/2 oz Bourbon
  • 1/2 oz Mezcal
  • 1 barspoon Demerara syrup
  • 2 dashes Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6
  • 1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
  2. Add ice and stir to chill
  3. Strain into a rocks glass over 3 ice cubes (or an ice sphere)
  4. Express an orange peel over it and use the peel as a garnish.
  5. Break out your Rex Stout novel and dispatch your minion to go do some legwork for you.

As I mentioned, I found this one on the Shakestir website. As soon as I get some cucumber juice, I'm going to try the other winner on that page.

Banana Boulevardier

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It'd been a while since I had made something without citrus in it, so I turned to my bar book to find something interesting that didn't use any citrus (or other fruit.) I settled on the Banana Boulevardier, because it looked like a lovely variation on the Boulevardier and it gave me an excuse to crack open the bottle of Banane de Brèsil I picked up yesterday when Brad and I went to Cask. 

I put my own twist on it by swapping the Campari for Gran Classico Bitter and the result was a nice success. Good bitter taste on the sip, followed by the bourbon, with a real nice banana finish. Very nice balance and I'll be revisiting this one soon. It reminds me of my Tiki Thursday party without being an actual Tiki drink. It's a nice change of pace; I've been on a real Tiki tear recently.

I think using the Gran Classico Bitter in place of Campari is generally a good move. While it doesn't bring that same vivid red color, it also doesn't bring any red food coloring with it. And the flavor is more complex than the Campari while being as nicely bitter.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Bourbon
  • 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
  • 1/2 oz Gran Classico Bitter (or Campari)
  • 1/2 oz Giffard Banane de Brèsil

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
  2. Add ice and stir to chill
  3. Strain into a cocktail coupe
  4. Express an orange peel over it and use the peel as a garnish.
  5. Enjoy!

My source for this one (as for many of my drinks) is the excellent Cocktail Virgin blog.