The Social Drinker

Going back on the booze

Ienjoyed a dry September. The summer holidays had been sociable and long, which left me feeling like a mild detox was in order. It was enjoyable to mess around with alcohol-free beers and drive home from parties, but I’m glad to be back drinking again as we head into the long run towards Christmas.

The first drink after a month’s abstinence is always a pleasure to be savoured in advance and on the day itself.

After some thought, I decided to plump for a Manhattan, pictured below, to celebrate the resumption of normal life. I’ve had a soft spot for Manhattans since living in Washington DC during the 1990s. A good Manhattan is hard to find here in Ireland because bartenders are not generous enough with their portions, and few bars have a good selection of bourbons.

It was for this latter reason that I was pleased to stumble across the recipe for a cocktail from an East London bar called the Sun Tavern, for an Irish-themed Manhattan called the Two Irish Men.

It sounds like the beginning of an obnoxious joke from across the water, but there’s nothing obnoxious about this imaginative twist on the great American classic.

This twist on the classic Manhattan uses whiskey rather than bourbon to give this version a much softer flavour, and it dispenses with the often hard-to-find maraschino cherry.

To make this cocktail, you need to mix 35ml of good whiskey with 25ml of the Italian aperitif Cocchi Americano — or an equivalent, such as Lillet — along with 10ml of Benedictine. Add all three ingredients to a glass with plenty of ice and a dash of Peychaud’s Bitters, or Angostura Bitters if no Peychaud’s is to hand. Strain into a Martini glass and serve with a twist of lemon.

Now all you have to do is come up with a better name than Two Irish Men.