Science Of Drink

Million Dollar Cocktail

15 ml pineapple juice
1 tsp. grenadine
25 ml sweet vermouth
50 ml Plymouth gin
Shake vigorously all ingredients in a shaker without ice (dry shake) and than add ice and shake again. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Clover Club (vermouth version)

10 ml dry vermouth
10 ml sweet vermouth
40 ml gin
25 ml fresh lemon juice
20 ml simple syrup
2 bar-spoon raspberry syrup
30 ml egg white
Shake vigorously all ingredients in a shaker without ice (dry shake) and than add a cople or more big ice cubes and shake again. Strain into a fancy claret-glass.

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The Anejo Manhattan (or, as Robert Hess in his The Essential Bartender’s Guide specifies, MANhattan) was found some time ago at Jay Hapburn’s Oh! Gosh! Blog. As far I could remember I was looking for some interesting concoctions to mix with my new Licor 43. The recipe sounded pretty interesting but I had not mixed it because I had not been in the right mood, you know. But now, when my Manhattan madness is drawing to its close, the recipe is to the purpose.

The Anejo MANhattan Cocktail is a modern cocktail. It was created by a well-known American mixologist Ryan Magarian (Liquid Relations) for Sofitel Hotel Bars. The Anejo MANhattan is a Manhattan with anejo tequila instead of whiskey. Another zest of the cocktail lies in using Cuarenta Y Tres – an interesting Mediterranean liqueur aromatized with vanilla, citrus fruits and local aromatic plants. And the cocktail is an extremely rare chance of using that creation by famous Diego Zamora.

But the Anejo Manhattan has yet another peculiar feature. Originally it was meant to be garnished with a piece of mole salami. Mole salami is quite a scarce sort of cured sausage uniquely spiced with… chocolate (-sic!), cinnamon, ancho and chipotle peppers, produced by Salumi Cured Meats in Seattle. Sounds quite bizarre! Actually such eccentric garnish is a sort of pairing – a modern trend of combining food and cocktails. Unfortunately, mole salami is absolutely out of range in Ukraine so I garnish my cocktail with a traditional cocktail cherry.

Anejo MANhattan

60 ml anejo tequila
15 ml sweet vermouth
8 ml Licor 43
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir well all ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a brandy or tequila soaked cherry wrapped up a piece of mole salami or, well, use only a cherry.

Ryan suggests using of quality anejo tequila 100% de agave such El Tesoro or Herradura for this cocktail. I have neither of the two so I use CORRALEJO Anejo.

Well, actually, the Anejo Manhattan is a great cocktail. Aged tequila and sweet vermouth create an outstanding composition which results in quite a well-balanced cocktail. All the ingredients work extremely well together. The liqueur increases vanilla notes of aged tequila and also fruit agave notes. The palate has two main groups of flavor – warm spicy notes of ageing like vanilla, oak and cooked agave and yet a bouquet of sweet fruit, mainly citruses like orange and lemon, notes. Quite interesting, even without salami!

P.S. Regardless of the name, my wife likes the Anejo MANhattan so much. Admittedly it is the only Manhattan which wins her recognition ;)

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Today I want to toy with one of three classic variations of the Manhattan – the Perfect Manhattan. As we know, the Manhattan Cocktail has three well-known varieties – the Sweet Manhattan (basically a Manhattan. Actually, nobody names the Manhattan as the ‘Sweet’ Manhattan), the Dry Manhattan (with dry vermouth instead of sweet one) and the Perfect Manhattan. The pivotal point of the Perfect Manhattan lies in using an equal proportion of both vermouths instead of sweet vermouth. Incidentally, the name of the Perfect Manhattan seems open for debating and your approving depends upon preferable sweetness of the Manhattan.

I have paid attention to today’s first cocktail at Cheri Loughlin’s Blog – The Intoxicologist. The concept of the Rat Pack Manhattan is to improve the Manhattan with a help of the legendary French liqueur – Grand Marnier. It sounds quite interesting. In average Ukrainian conditions we have only two or, well, three cut-and-dried vermouths for the regular mixing. Thus an idea to support my regular Cinzano with one of my favorite aged liqueurs attracted me at first sight. It had made my mouth water and I went to surf (unfortunately, Cheri’s recipe is quite inaccurate, she avoids bitters, but as we know, the Manhattan always contains bitters). The appropriate recipe was founded at the diffordsguide.

The Rat Pack Manhattan sounds not quite delicious (or, frankly speaking, absolutely inedible). But really, rats have nothing to do with the Rat Pack Manhattan. Actually the Rat Pack was a group of American movie stars originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. The Rat Pack existed since 1950-s and in different time included among the partakers a number of famous actors and singers – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. After the Bogart’s death the leader of the Rat Pack was Frank Sinatra (who was a notorious Dry Manhattan lover, by the way).

The Rat Pack Manhattan was created in 2000 by Wayne Collins at High Holborn, London, England. Forsooth all members of Rat Pack (apart from Joey Bishop) were dead by that time. Probably Wayne liked the Rat Pack and named the cocktail after it. As Simon Difford supposes, originally Wayne used different whiskies to represent each of the Rat Pack crooners. The wash of Grand Marnier was for Sammy Davis, the wild card of the bunch.

The Rat Pack Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with a little French twist.

Rat Pack Manhattan

15 ml Grand Marnier (for washing)
45 ml bourbon
20 ml vermouth sweet
20 ml vermouth dry
3 dash Angostura bitters
Coat a chilled cocktail glass with the liqueur and discard. Stir whiskey, vermouths and bitters with a lot of ice. Strain into the prepared glass and garnish with an orange twist and a maraschino cherry.

Admittedly, I should say that it is simply the Perfect Manhattan with bourbon. The minor savor of an orange is barely noticeable. Thus it is so restrained variation of the Manhattan. Perfect. In a true English style, you know.

More recently I decided to taste another Manhattan-like cocktail with Grand Marnier liqueur – the Boulevard (pretty often called as the Boulevard Manhattan). Actually the Boulevard Cocktail is rather similar to the Perfect Manhattan with Grand Marnier instead of sweet vermouth.

I have found a recipe of the Boulevard Cocktail at the diffordsguide also. As Simon supposes the Boulevard is an old classic cocktail with an unclear origin.

Boulevard (aka Boulevard Manhattan)

50 ml bourbon
25 ml dry vermouth
10 ml Grand Marnier
1 dash orange bitters
Stir all ingredients with a lot of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of an orange peel (discarded) and two maraschino cherries.

Crikey! The Boulevard is indeed a stunning cocktail! It’s like a harmonious jazz band of well-coordinated jazz stars. All ingredients – the whiskey, the vermouth, the liqueur and the bitters – play a perceptible role. The Boulevard Cocktail is a perfect citrus Manhattan. One of the most interesting things is an amazing play of two well-aged spirits – Grand Marnier and Makers Mark bourbon. The liqueur adds more noble notes of ageing to the bourbon. The notes of vanilla, candied fruits, especially orange, orange cake prevail in the nose and palate of the cocktail. The main palate of the cocktail is slightly dry with a lot of warm sweet savors. Undoubtedly, the Boulevard is an amazing cocktail though isn’t a Manhattan. The herbal part of the taste is so simple and too light as for the true Manhattan.

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Sorry, but this post is not available in English. But coming soon!