Name: Black Manhattan
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 30 ml Averna Amaro; 1 dash Aromatic bitters; 1 dash Orange bitters

Black Manhattan
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
1 oz	Amaro (e.g. Averna)
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with maraschino cherry.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A classic Manhattan with amaro in place of sweet vermouth. Heavier in style and with distinctive bitter chocolate and light spice.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2015 by Todd Smith at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco, USA.

See: Manhattan cocktail history

More cocktails by Todd Smith

Nutrition:

One serving of Black Manhattan contains 231 calories

Alcohol content:

2.2 standard drinks
33.87% alc./vol. (33.87° proof)
30.7 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 22 comments for Black Manhattan.
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John Hinojos

13th April at 00:30

Wanting to make this a little drier, we backed off the Amaro by 1/3. Very flavourful.

Darren Companion

5th December 2024 at 22:34

Tried it with Montenegro amaro and was pleasantly surprised! Having a pre-chilled cocktail glass and using a hot rye is a must.

Doug Charnock

21st November 2024 at 01:48

Very nice Manhattan variation as written, but at 2.2 standard drinks I’ll probably make 1 or 1 1/2 of them next time for the evening cocktail for two. Always good to find a really nice two (not counting bitters) ingredient cocktail.

Kevin Fox

22nd March 2024 at 16:48

I didn't have Averna so I used Nonino with Rittenhouse Rye and... Chef's kiss. I'm going to try this with every remaining amaro I have.

Sc'Eric

3rd November 2024 at 12:09

Make sure you try it with Vigo amaro, from Philadelphia Distilling. (I prefer mine with a split of Vigo and Bonal gentiane-quina... and a base of Minor Case sherry-cask rye.)

j dawsari

20th January 2024 at 03:30

I used Amaro dell’ Etna and…wow…it absolutely compliments the peppery rye. Love this.

Caitlin

1st December 2023 at 12:35

Give this a go with carciofo amaro. It gives the rye a fascinating peated dimension.

Doug Greenwood

10th November 2023 at 22:26

One of my favorites. I sometimes use Amaro Luciano instead of Averna. Delicious.

Asher Günther

26th October 2023 at 07:46

Benefits from an orange zest, even if only to be discarded after expressing. This is basically an improved whisky cocktail served up, after all

Errick N.

3rd June 2023 at 23:53

I love Manhattan variations! And I love the fact that with these sorts of simple cocktails, one can choose any preferred combination of rye, amaro, and bitter brands to tweak the drink to one's own preference.

John Champion

14th February 2023 at 00:08

I always make my Black Manhattans with 2 dashes of Black Walnut bitters. Delicious and fits thematically!

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