30/30, #28: the Uptown Manhattan

You can almost hear the collective eye-roll from San Francisco — the eyes that aren’t rolling back in their heads because of the excesses of Cocktail Week, that is — that I’m finally covering a drink that’s long been a part of the Bay Area craft-cocktail scene (and by “long”, I mean “since earlier this decade”). But cut me some slack — I’m up in Seattle, and if Marcovaldo Dionysos, the drink’s creator, can’t find it in his schedule to come up north every once in a while, then it’s either up to me to work my around to blogging about his drinks for my local readers — both of ’em — or to Boudreau to rip ’em off and stick them on his bar menu.*

Gary Regan wrote about this drink way back in 2003, but at the time I was just a fledgling booze geek and had no idea what Amaro Nonino was; hell, at that point I hadn’t even found orange bitters yet. Ah, youth, and how little of it I recall.

Anyway, details: made for a Maker’s Mark competition, amaro in place of vermouth, etc. Actually, why should I spend the time writing about this drink — here’s Marco on video, I’ll let him explain it:

Got it? In case you missed it, here’s the recipe:

Uptown Manhattan
by Marcovaldo Dionysos

  • 2 ounces Maker’s Mark bourbon
  • 3/4 ounce Amaro Nonino (the print recipe says 1/2, but Marco says 3/4 in the video, so…)
  • 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan’s #6)
  • 1 barspoon cherry brandy from brandied cherries [being brandied cherry-less, I subbed Cherry Heering]

Stir well with ice & strain into chilled cocktail glass. Cut a piece of orange peel about the size of a quarter; positioning the flame from a match in front of the peel, give a squeeze and spray the orange oil through the flame onto the surface of the drink (it’s easier than it sounds — watch the video to see what I mean). Garnish with a cherry.

* Okay, that was a gratuitous and totally unwarranted slam at Jamie, who does not steal Marco’s drinks and place them on his bar menus as his own — that was all a simple misunderstanding for which I take full responsibility and humbly apologize. Really, I did it — for the full story, go to Tini Bigs and ask Jamie to explain it himself, perhaps over a Ginger Rogers.

This drink is part of 30/30, a series of 30 drinks in 30 days — or as much as I can keep up before collapsing in a weary, booze-addled heap.

3 Responses to 30/30, #28: the Uptown Manhattan

  1. Great recipe. Anything with Maker’s Mark is terrific! You should come visit the distillery and take the free tour. It’s a blast. Maker’s Mark Distillery is located just outside historic downtown Lebanon, the geographic center of the state and true Heart of Kentucky. Come feel the beat! Learn more about Maker’s Mark and get easy, detailed directions to the distillery at http://www.HeartOfKentucky.com.

  2. […] So what set this recent turn of “withdrawal”-like symptoms off?  Well, it was probably our recent post on the Warm Weather Drink Challenge and the phenomenal Rear Admiral’s Swizzle that did it? How so, that guy was rum-based not a Manhattan riff? Camper’s article on the resurgence and use of coffee-based liqueurs and flavors made reference to a familiar drink, Bourbon and Branch’s Black Manhattan and that was all it took to set me off? Absent the required Averna needed to complete the Black Manhattan and I guess operating on a Manhattan hair trigger I stumbled back in a fit of consternation until I recalled in a faint memory Paul’s 30/30 project from last year and another interesting riff on our fav drink … the Uptown Manhattan. […]

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