Craving a Brooklyn cocktail recipe you can make tonight? Stir 2 ounces rye, 1 ounce dry vermouth, and a dash each of maraschino and Amer Picon with ice, then strain.
This page is part of a wider set of brooklyn cocktail guides to the borough’s drinks.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Rye or blended whiskey | 2 ounces |
| Dry vermouth | 1 ounce |
| Maraschino liqueur | 1 dash |
| Amer Picon | 1 dash |
| First recipe in print (Jack’s Manual) | 1908 |
| Red Hook riff created | 2004 |
The quantities come from the recipe reproduced on Barry Popik’s site, and the dates come from PUNCH. Recipes differ between books and figures can change, so check the sources before you rely on them.
How to make a Brooklyn cocktail
The Brooklyn is a short, all-spirits drink that sits close to a Manhattan. The spec below is the version reproduced on Barry Popik’s site, which lets you use either rye or blended whiskey.
- 2 ounces rye or blended whiskey
- 1 ounce dry vermouth
- A dash of maraschino liqueur
- A dash of Amer Picon
Here is the method, step by step:
- Chill a cocktail glass in the freezer, or fill it with ice and water while you mix.
- Pour the whiskey, vermouth, maraschino and Amer Picon into a mixing glass filled with ice.
- Stir until the outside of the glass feels very cold.
- Strain into the chilled glass and add a maraschino cherry if you like a garnish.
Old books disagree on technique, so stirring or shaking is your call. The recipes printed in 1908 and 1914 both say to stir, while the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book and the version reproduced on Popik’s page say to shake. Because the drink has no juice in it, stirring is a sensible default, and the trade-offs are laid out in the guide to stirred vs shaken cocktails.
Choosing the whiskey, vermouth and bitter
Each of the four ingredients does a different job, and the whiskey carries the most weight. One cocktail database recommends using a high quality rye, which keeps the drink dry and peppery rather than sweet.
The vermouth has changed over time. According to PUNCH, the original 1908 recipe used equal parts rye whiskey and Italian (sweet) vermouth, and later versions switched to dry. That switch is why the Brooklyn is often described as a dry Manhattan.
The hard part is Amer Picon, a French bitter orange liqueur. When the cocktail renaissance ramped up in the early 2000s, PUNCH reports, many ingredients like Amer Picon were still impossible to find, so bartenders improvised. Barry Popik’s page adds that Torani Amer from California is sometimes substituted for the rarely found original.
If you cannot find Amer Picon, these stand-ins have turned up in print and in reader notes:
- Torani Amer: the stand-in that comes from California.
- Cynar: the amaro chosen for the Bensonhurst, according to PUNCH.
- Amaro Averna or CioCiaro: both appear in reader notes on Kindred Cocktails.
Expect each swap to shift the flavor. Taste as you go and adjust the dash rather than pouring a full measure.
Where does the Brooklyn cocktail come from?
The earliest printed recipe appeared in 1908 in Jack’s Manual, according to PUNCH. A 1914 book, Drinks by Jacques Straub, printed a similar recipe with rye and French vermouth, as Popik’s page shows.
The drink never caught on widely. Popik’s page notes that it never became popular with the general public, and that it largely fell into obscurity after the end of Prohibition. It experienced a resurgence in the 1990s, per the same page.
The name was also attached to other drinks that went nowhere. Popik’s page lists several, and says these variations were short-lived:
- Newspapers in 1910 printed recipes with hard cider and with gin and two kinds of vermouth.
- In 1934, Brad Dewey of Gage and Tollner’s Restaurant on Fulton Street suggested a mix of gin, grapefruit juice and grenadine.
- In 1945, the New Yorker hotel was serving a version with rye whiskey, apricot brandy and lemon.
- In 1946, Schrafft’s offered one made with silver rum, orange curacao and lime juice.
The Brooklyn is also one of five cocktails named for the boroughs of New York City, alongside the Bronx, the Manhattan, the Queens and the Staten Island Ferry. Of that group, the same page says the Brooklyn is not nearly as famous as the Manhattan.
Neighborhood variations on the Brooklyn
The Brooklyn became a template for bartenders. PUNCH’s January 2016 feature says that, similar to the Negroni, the Brooklyn works with myriad variations. Most follow the same rye, vermouth and modifier pattern, and most carry the name of a Brooklyn neighborhood.
These are the riffs described in the PUNCH feature:
- Red Hook (2004): created by Vincenzo Errico as a Manhattan-Brooklyn mash-up of rye whiskey, Punt e Mes and maraschino liqueur. It skips Amer Picon altogether.
- Bensonhurst: Chad Solomon’s take, which uses Cynar and Dolin dry vermouth. It appeared on a spring 2006 menu at Pegu Club.
- Greenpoint (2006): created by Michael McIlroy at Milk & Honey.
- Slope (2008): Julie Reiner’s apricot brandy-accented drink for the debut menu at Clover Club.
- Cobble Hill and Bushwick (2009): Sam Ross made the first, and Phil Ward offered the second at Death & Co.
- Carroll Gardens: Joaquín Simó’s version, which calls for Nardini amaro.
One detail may surprise you. PUNCH found that most of these drinks can be traced to the now-defunct Milk & Honey and a handful of other Manhattan cocktail dens, not to Brooklyn bars.
If you want the easiest riff to try first, the red hook cocktail recipe drops the Amer Picon hunt entirely.
The Brooklyn compared with a Manhattan
The Manhattan is the borough drink everyone knows. PUNCH describes it as made with American whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters.
The same feature quotes the book Savoring Gotham, which calls the Brooklyn not much more than a dry Manhattan, with dry vermouth replacing the sweet. The maraschino and Amer Picon are what set it apart: they add a faint cherry-almond sweetness and a bitter orange edge that a Manhattan lacks.
That difference also explains why the Brooklyn stayed in the shadows. PUNCH suggests the Manhattan won out partly through simplicity, while the Brooklyn calls for two esoteric liqueurs.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a Brooklyn cocktail?
Show answer
The version on Popik’s page uses 2 ounces rye or blended whiskey, 1 ounce dry vermouth, a dash of maraschino liqueur and a dash of Amer Picon.
Is a Brooklyn cocktail shaken or stirred?
Show answer
Sources split. The 1908 and 1914 recipes on Popik’s page say stir, while the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book entry says shake well. Stirring is a good starting point for a drink with no juice.
What can you use instead of Amer Picon?
Show answer
Torani Amer is the substitute named on Popik’s page. Bartenders have also reached for amari such as Cynar, as PUNCH describes.
Is the Brooklyn the same as a Red Hook?
Show answer
No. The Red Hook, created in 2004 according to PUNCH, swaps in Punt e Mes and leaves out the Amer Picon.
Why is the Brooklyn less famous than the Manhattan?
Show answer
PUNCH points to the Manhattan’s simplicity and the Brooklyn’s two esoteric liqueurs. Popik’s page adds that the Brooklyn never became popular with the general public.
