Black Manhattan

The Manhattan is a three-ingredient cocktail that has been getting made correctly and incorrectly in roughly equal measure since the 1880s. Whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters. Stirred. Served up or over a large rock. That's it.

The Black Manhattan replaces the sweet vermouth with Averna amaro — a Sicilian bitter liqueur with notes of citrus peel, herbs, and licorice. The result is darker, more bitter, and considerably more interesting. It's not a better drink in every context. It's a better drink when you want something with more edge.

The drink was created at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco and has been a permanent fixture on serious cocktail menus since. If you've built your home bar with a bottle of Averna, this is the first thing you should make with it.

function blackManhattan() {
  return {
    name: 'Black Manhattan',
    glass: 'Coupe or rocks glass with large ice',
    method: 'Stir',
    ingredients: [
      { ingredient: 'Rye whiskey', amount: '2 oz', note: 'Rittenhouse 100 is the standard call. Bourbon works but goes sweeter.' },
      { ingredient: 'Averna Amaro', amount: '1 oz' },
      { ingredient: 'Angostura bitters', amount: '2 dashes' },
      { ingredient: 'Luxardo maraschino cherry', amount: '1', role: 'garnish' },
    ],
    instructions: [
      'Combine whiskey, Averna, and bitters in a mixing glass.',
      'Add ice and stir for 30-40 seconds until well chilled and properly diluted.',
      'Strain into a chilled coupe or over a large rock in a rocks glass.',
      'Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.',
    ],
    notes: [
      'Rye keeps the drink dry and lets the Averna\'s bitterness come through. Bourbon tilts it sweeter — not wrong, just different.',
      'The Luxardo cherry matters here. A neon-red maraschino cherry is a different garnish entirely.',
      'A single dash of orange bitters in addition to the Angostura adds brightness without changing the character.',
    ],
  }
}

Glass: Coupe or rocks glass with large ice — Method: Stir

Ingredients

• 2 oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse 100 is the standard call; bourbon works but goes sweeter)
• 1 oz Averna Amaro
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Luxardo cherry (garnish)

Instructions

1. Combine whiskey, Averna, and bitters in a mixing glass.
2. Add ice and stir for 30–40 seconds until well chilled and properly diluted.
3. Strain into a chilled coupe or over a large rock in a rocks glass.
4. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.

Why Averna works here

Sweet vermouth in a standard Manhattan is doing two things: adding sweetness and adding complexity. Averna does both, but brings a bitter finish and a deeper herbal profile that sweet vermouth doesn't have. The whiskey and amaro are natural partners — both have that bittersweet quality where neither element is purely one thing.

The ratio matters. One ounce of Averna to two ounces of rye keeps the whiskey in the foreground. Go 1:1 and you've made something that starts tasting like an amaro cocktail with whiskey in it, which is a different drink and not necessarily the one you want.

Make this once with Rittenhouse rye. Then decide if you want to experiment with other whiskeys. That's the right order.