Brown Sugar Manhattan
On the weekends, if we aren’t out camping in the wilderness, we experiment with cocktail recipes. We consider what we have, what the weather is like, and what we’re in the mood for. I mix the drinks; Alie samples while she makes dinner. This week, a Brown Sugar Manhattan checked all the boxes.
A classic Manhattan typically combines rye whiskey, vermouth, and bitters. It often leaves you with a dry wine after taste and a snap in your tongue. Our Brown Sugar Manhattan helps balance the taste of the vermouth with hints of brown sugar that extract the sweetness of the bourbon. This drink enhances the flavor of the vermouth without the lingering dehydration. We used my favorite daily drinker, Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond, as the base for this cocktail. Check out our review of Evan Williams here. If you don’t have BiB on hand, any bourbon will do.
The Brown Sugar Manhattan makes use of one of our favorite cocktail mixers: Brown Sugar Bourbon. If you don’t have BSB in your house, you could make a brown sugar simple syrup. We found the simple syrup to be too indulgent for a springtime cocktail and opted for the BSB to complement the bourbon. It cuts the heaviness of the sugar and adds a little extra bite.
Brown Sugar Manhattan
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Whiskey
- 1 ounce BSB
- 1 ounce Vermouth (red)
- 3-4 dashes aromatic bitters
- 1 each Whiskey-infused cherries or Maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Add 3-4 dashes of bitters to a Manhattan or rocks glass.
- Add bourbon, vermouth, and BSB
- Stir to combine.
- Garnish with a cherry.
Happy Exploring!
