16 Sep Sinner Takes Manhattan Cocktail Recipe

Sinner Takes Manhattan Cocktail Recipe

One of our proudest moment is when a friend first designs their own cocktail.

Back in July, we spent a weekend in New Hampshire with a bunch of college friends. One of them, Dash, had just come back from a trip to Europe, with a bottle of absinthe as a souvenir. ‘What can I make with this?’ he asked. We had some sweet and dry vermouth on hand; so we made Half Sinner/Half Saints. We’re always looking to promote drinks with anise and a low alcohol content. A good time and a good drink were had by all, and we came home.

Last week, I was talking to Dash on the phone, and he was mixing a drink. I asked him what he was making. ‘A Half Sinner/Half Manhattan,’ he said.

‘A What?’ I asked.

Well, Dash’s favorite drink is the Manhattan. And he liked the Half Sinner/Half Saint, but whenever he was drinking one he also missed his Manhattan. So, he thought he’d see if he could drink them both at the same time.

Literally. This drink is the complete Venn diagram of an old style Manhattan and a Half Sinner/Half Saint, with the sweet vermouth in the intersection. That’s a crazy way to make a drink.

The thing is I tried it, and it’s actually pretty delicious. So, raise a glass to Dash and his first drink creation.

Just so you know, though, Dash (and everyone else for that matter), it usually doesn’t work to just pour two different drinks into the same glass and drink it. But we’re glad that in this case it worked.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Bourbon
• 1 oz sweet vermouth–we use Boissiere or Dolin
• 1 oz dry vermouth–we use Boissiere
• 1 tsp absinthe–we use Wigle’s Absent Minded
• Luxardo cherry, for garnish–it’s half Manhattan, after all.

Instructions

• Combine Bourbon and both vermouths in an old fashioned glass.
• Add ice.
• Very slowly pour absinthe on top. If you do it right, you’ll have a nice white layer at the top.
• Add cherry.
• Serve with a straw. It makes the drink get slowly more anise flavored over the course of drinking.