SMFD – Finest of the Finer Things
For the next edition of Soundtrack My Friend’s Drink, I came up with a Manhattan variation for my assigned song. This time the theme was hip-hop and I got the song Bistro from Madvillain. In this song with a great flow there is the line “Finest of the Finer Things” and I took that as an inspiration.
Instantly after listening to the song, suggested by Joe Brayford aka todays_tipple, I knew that this had to be a Manhattan variation. Since I associate hip-hop with cognac, I went for a split base of rye whiskey and a slightly higher ABV cognac. On top of that, I took a few other lines from the song as inspiration for other ingredients.
A bit of this and that
From the title of the song and the line “Café Lounge on the water”, I just had to incorporate some sort of coffee. So, I added Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur. To stay true to the motto “Finest of the Finer Things”, I also used some of Braulio Riserva Amaro. This also took the drink a bit in the direction of a Black Manhattan. To round everything off, I threw in some dashes of the excellent Dashfire Spiced Apple Bitters.
3 cl Willet Family Reserve Rye
0,75 cl Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur
1,5 cl Braulio Riserva Amaro
2,25 cl House Vermouth Blend*
Stir – strain – chilled Cocktail glass;
Garnish: Two Brandied Cherries; Song: Madvillain – Bistro;
*Mix 50 % Mancino Vermouth Rosso, 40 % Yzaguierre Reserve and 10 % Manino Chinato.
The “Finest of the Finer Things” starts off with classic Manhattan notes. However, the cognac soon takes over. Afterwards, the Amaro with its herbal notes takes the drink in a darker direction. The other ingredients work especially well with the coffee liqueur. All in all, this really is a fine Manhattan / Black Manhattan variation!
