Bensonhurst As Beverage: New Cocktail Named After Neighborhood
Mixed drink-devoted website The Intoxicologist is featuring a new, I mean old, cocktail named after our beloved neighborhood. The throwback beverage, called the Bensonhurst, is a variation on the Manhattan.
“Bensonhurst is a cocktail descendent of the Brooklyn,” according to The Intoxicologist. The site credits Chad Solomon with the original recipe.
What’s in a Bensonhurst? Intoxicologist features two slightly different versions. One uses rye whiskey and the other bourbon, though both have the same basic elements of a Manhattan- whiskey, vermouth and bitters. Much like the Brooklyn, what makes a Bensonhurst stand out is its utilization of dry vermouth (versus the sweet stuff in a classic Manhattan).
My only gripe is with the end of the article where, in one sweeping indictment of a line, Bensonhurst is characterized as “a tough Italian neighborhood.” Maybe I’m being too sensitive but I don’t think any New Yorker would want their neighborhood summed up in one sentence. Even The Brooklyn Paper admits Bensonhurst has changed.
