Happy Friday! I’m especially happy for it to finally be the end of the week. Sharkbait 2.0 hasn’t been sleeping well lately, which leads to a lot of interrupted sleep. Coupled with remote training for work starting at 7am every day this week has made for one long slog of a work week.

Because of the long days, I was planning on re-visiting a drink I made previously, now that I had the proper base ingredient, only to discover that I was out of another ingredient, blowing up my thought process. Sorry Applejack Rabbit. I’ll re-make you sometime soon.

Now that left me with a conundrum. What to make instead. Thanks to my booze centric google algorithm, I found a somewhat subjective list of the top cocktails for February. I’m unsure how this list was curated, but it did provide some new ideas. Included in that is a Manhattan riff called the Bushwick. As a lover of Manhattans, I was intrigued and decided to give it a go.

Bushwick

2 oz. rye whiskey
.75 oz. sweet vermouth
.25 oz.  maraschino liqueur
.25 oz.  Amer Picon (or Amaro Lucano)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir for 15–20 seconds until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass without garnish.

So I had to sub the Amaro. Lucano and Nonino are similar enough that the swap supposedly keeps the flavor profile close to what the recipe is going for

Strong aromas up front. There is nothing subtle about this at all. Oddly enough I mostly get the maraschino liqueur. Only a quarter ounce is in here but man it really blows everything else out of the water. Going back in, I think I can get some of the rye, but I think if I’m asking myself this question that means I probably don’t. Which is a neat trick since I used Rittenhouse rye, and that tends to have a pretty strong smell too.

While the smell of maraschino liqueur hits you up front, thankfully that flavor is much more subdued. The flavors are nicely melded together to produce a well balanced, but strong tasting drink. It’s very reminiscent of a Manhattan. Being that this is a rye based cocktail, I’m not surprised. The amaro adds an interesting flavor that I was looking forward to. Ever since I picked up the bottle, I think I’ve only used it once or twice, so when I had to pivot to this recipe, I was pleased to be able to break it out once again. It adds an interesting depth of flavor that helps balance out the sweetness provided by the aforementioned maraschino liqueur and the sweet vermouth. The amaro provides a nice bitter mouth feel that hangs around for a bit, but does dissipate fairly quickly after you’re through. It melds nicely with the same kind of mouth feel you get from having the rye neat, which was nice.

The finish like I said, is slightly bitter and boozy, but doesnt linger and lets you enjoy it as fast as you want. Being that this is a riff on a Manhattan, it’s very similar, but also rather different. I feel like I get more bitter notes from the amaro vs. angostura bitters. I’m pleasantly surprised by this, and would consider making this instead of a Manhattan. Which is saying something since a Manhattan is one of my favorite drinks, and is one of two “go to” drinks if Im undecided at a bar (the other being a negroni). So I recommend going for it and making a Bushwick if you have the stuff on hand.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)