Brooklyn Cocktail Recipe (+ Red Hook, Greenpoint & Little Italy)

The Brooklyn is the Manhattan's drier, more complicated sibling: rye and dry vermouth instead of sweet, with a quarter-ounce each of maraschino liqueur and a bitter orange amaro doing the work the sweet vermouth would have done. It is more than a century old, nearly vanished when one of its ingredients did, and came back in the 2000s as the template behind the Red Hook and the Greenpoint.

Below: the Brooklyn recipe with the practical Amer Picon substitutes, how it tastes against the classic Manhattan, and a spec for each borough drink. It belongs to the Manhattan variations hub; every build in the family is indexed in the Recipe Room.

Where the Brooklyn Comes From

The Brooklyn first appears in print in Jacob Grohusko's Jack's Manual of 1908. Grohusko's version was equal parts rye and Italian (sweet) vermouth with a dash each of Amer Picon and maraschino. Straub's 1913 book switched to French dry vermouth, still in equal parts, and the whiskey-forward dry form made today appears in the Savoy (1930) and Duffy (1934). That is the version here.

Why It Faded, and the Picon Problem

After Prohibition the Brooklyn had a supply problem the Manhattan didn't. Amer Picon, the French bitter-orange aperitif that gives the drink its backbone, stopped being imported to the United States and has not reliably returned, and the European version has been reformulated and lowered in strength since, so even a bottle carried home does not match what Grohusko poured. The Brooklyn survived in the books and came back when the craft revival went looking for forgotten rye drinks. Three substitutes do the job:

• Bigallet China-China — a French bitter-orange liqueur in the same tradition; the closest match, with candied peel and a clean bitter edge.
• Amaro CioCiaro — the Italian amaro most bars reach for; orange and gentian, slightly sweeter.
• Ramazzotti — softer and rootier, with cola notes; the easiest to find, and it makes a rounder Brooklyn.

Use the same ¼ oz of any of them. The classic spec has no bitters, because the amaro is the bitter element; a dash of orange bitters is a common modern addition, covered in best bitters for a Manhattan.

How It Tastes Next to the Manhattan

Swap sweet vermouth for dry and the Manhattan loses most of its sugar and all of its vanilla. The Brooklyn puts a little back from elsewhere: maraschino is not a sweet-cherry liqueur but a nutty, funky, faintly floral one, and the amaro brings bitter orange and body. The result is paler, drier and more savory than a Manhattan, with a long bitter finish and a cherry-pit note under the rye spice — a Dry Manhattan with ornaments.

The Borough Drinks

In the 2000s the bartenders at Milk & Honey, Pegu Club and Death & Co treated the Brooklyn as a template — rye, a fortified wine, a liqueur or amaro — and named the results after neighborhoods. The Little Italy, named for the Manhattan neighborhood, is a Manhattan riff rather than a Brooklyn one, but it comes from the same bars and fits the same table. All are stirred and served up.

Red Hook

Created by Vincenzo Errico at Milk & Honey in 2003–04: 2 oz rye, ½ oz Punt e Mes, ½ oz maraschino, stirred, with a brandied cherry. Punt e Mes is a bitter sweet vermouth, so the Red Hook collapses the Brooklyn's vermouth and amaro into one bottle. Darker and more bitter.

Greenpoint

Created by Michael McIlroy at Milk & Honey around 2005: 2 oz rye, ½ oz yellow Chartreuse, ½ oz sweet vermouth, a dash each of Angostura and orange bitters, lemon twist. The Chartreuse brings honey and alpine herbs; softer and more aromatic.

Little Italy

Created by Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club in 2005: 2 oz rye, ¾ oz sweet vermouth, ½ oz Cynar, garnished with brandied cherries. Cynar's artichoke bitterness replaces the Manhattan's bitters; the published spec calls for a bonded rye. The closest to a classic Manhattan.

Carroll Gardens

Created by Joaquín Simó (of Death & Co): 2 oz rye, ½ oz Nardini amaro, ½ oz Punt e Mes, 1 scant tsp maraschino, lemon twist. A Red Hook with an amaro added — richer and more bitter. Of the rest, the Bensonhurst (dry vermouth, maraschino, a touch of Cynar) and the Cobble Hill (dry vermouth, Amaro Montenegro, cucumber) are the best known.

Choosing the Rye

Every drink here carries half an ounce of modifiers with real flavor of their own, so the rye has to hold the middle. A 100-proof bonded rye is the standard. Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye (100 proof, guide price $26.99) is the bottle the 2000s New York bars reached for and the one the Little Italy's spec names; Wild Turkey 101 Rye (101 proof) does the same job with more weight. An 80-proof rye gets lost behind the maraschino. The Bottle Library ranks the field; the budget picks cover the bonded ryes these drinks were built on.

Garnish and Glass

A brandied cherry echoes the maraschino; a lemon twist suits the drier, Picon-forward builds. Serve all of them up, in a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora. See cherries and garnish and best Manhattan glass.

Related Drinks

• Perfect Manhattan — half sweet, half dry; the gentlest step from the classic.
• Black Manhattan — Averna in place of the vermouth entirely; the borough logic taken to its end.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Brooklyn cocktail?

A Manhattan variation first printed in 1908 (with sweet vermouth); today usually 2 oz rye, ¾ oz dry vermouth, ¼ oz maraschino liqueur and ¼ oz Amer Picon (or a substitute amaro), stirred and served up with a cherry or lemon twist. Drier and more bitter than a Manhattan.

What can I use instead of Amer Picon?

Bigallet China-China is the closest match; Amaro CioCiaro is the most common bar substitute; Ramazzotti is the easiest to find and makes a rounder drink. Use the same ¼ oz.

What's the difference between a Brooklyn and a Manhattan?

The Brooklyn uses dry vermouth instead of sweet and adds maraschino and a bitter orange amaro. It is paler, drier and more savory, with a nutty cherry note and a long bitter finish.

What is a Red Hook cocktail?

Created by Vincenzo Errico at Milk & Honey in 2003–04: 2 oz rye, ½ oz Punt e Mes and ½ oz maraschino, stirred and served up with a cherry. Darker and more bitter than the Brooklyn.

What is a Greenpoint cocktail?

Created by Michael McIlroy at Milk & Honey around 2005: 2 oz rye, ½ oz yellow Chartreuse, ½ oz sweet vermouth, a dash each of Angostura and orange bitters, lemon twist. Herbal and honeyed.

What rye is best for a Brooklyn?

A 100-proof bonded rye; an 80-proof whiskey disappears behind the maraschino and amaro. Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond and Wild Turkey 101 Rye are the standard choices.