Sweet Smoked Manhattan
It’s a mystery (like many other cocktails) where the Manhattan’s origins come from. However, its first written cameo was in an 1982 article of the Sunday Morning Herald: “it is but a short time ago that a mixture of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters came into vogue.” Today, there are countless variations of what we call the Manhattan, and this happens to be how I prefer mine (and it’s big enough for two!).
Ingredients
wood smoking chip
4 dashes of aromatic bitters
1½ oz sweet vermouth
3½ oz rye whiskey
brandied cherry
Directions:
Light smoking chip with a wooden match or kitchen blow torch until smoking. Carefully place on a fireproof surface. Quickly flip a chilled coupe glass upside down on top of smoldering chip to capture the smoke.
In a separate cocktail mixing class, add bitters, sweet vermouth, and rye whiskey. Add ice and stir for at least thirty seconds (dilution is KEY! If you stir too long, your cocktail will become watery. If you don’t stir long enough, your cocktail will be too warm). Strain into the smoked coupe glass and garnish with a brandied cherry.