Properly Sauced: Red Hook Cocktail

By Rob Christopher in Food on Jan 27, 2010 8:40PM

A few weeks ago we found ourselves in Boston and thirsty for a cocktail. The interwebs told us that a visit to Drink would be worth our while. They were most certainly correct. How to describe the place? Picture what would happen if The Violet Hour operated a bar on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, and you'll have a fair idea. As bustling a bar as we've had the pleasure to visit, with each bartender expertly fashioning cocktails at the speed of sound.

The drink we savored most at Drink was the Red Hook Cocktail, named by The New York Times as one of the aught's best cocktails. Created circa 2005 by bartender Enzo Errico, it's an extremely simple drink that's just plain tasty. It's very similar to a Manhattan but tastes wonderfully unique, which just goes to show what difference a few tweaks can make.

Red Hook Cocktail

2 oz. rye whiskey
1/2 oz. Punt e Mes vermouth
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur

Stir briskly with ice in cocktail shaker until cold, then strain into an iced cocktail glass.

You'll notice that one major departure from the Manhattan recipe is the lack of Angostura bitters. That's because the Punt e Mes is already pleasantly bitter; in fact, one blog appropriately describes its flavor as "serrated." And rye is absolutely essential to this cocktail. Plain old whiskey just doesn't cut it, and would result in a drink that's too sweet. We're partial to Old Overholt, as much for its extremely reasonable price as its flavor. The splash of maraschino pleasantly softens the bite of the other components and adds balance.