The Manhattan is a classic cocktail that is delicious on its own, but with its simple structure and balanced flavors, it welcomes experimentation! With just a slight tweak of one ingredient, or with the addition of any of our cocktail spices, you have endless opportunity to quickly create an updated Manhattan that’s perfectly suited to your taste.
For this Black Pepper Manhattan, we stuck to a classic recipe using Sazerac Rye, Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth, Angostura Bitters, and a maraschino cherry from local Seattle producer, Orasella. To make it our own, we added the warm, spicy, familiar flavor of Black Pepper.
As a ubiquitous flavor in our daily meals, it’s so fun to play with black pepper in liquid form! It pairs beautifully with the potent flavors in the rye and vermouth - blending in yet remaining distinctive even in a small amount. It also adds a truly impressive amount of heat! We think that 1-2 blasts of our black pepper tincture is the right amount per drink, but you should vary it depending on the amount of spice and pepper flavor that you like.
We hope you’ll try some black pepper in your next Manhattan and let us know what you think!
Black Pepper Manhattan
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz American whiskey (we prefer Rye but Bourbon works great too)
1oz sweet vermouth
Aromatic bitters
Black Pepper Cocktail Spice
Maraschino cherry
Ice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Over ice, combine whiskey, vermouth, 2 dashes of aromatic bitters, and 1 blast* of Black Pepper Cocktail Spice (or more if you like more heat!)
Stir and strain into a coupe or Nick and Nora glass
Garnish with a cherry
ENJOY!
* a blast is a measurement describing one eyedropper of Cocktail Spice – approx 25 drops
