This year has been so weighty, and the sand is trickling quickly through the hourglass. I enjoyed and thoroughly celebrated a Brown Spirit Summer, and guess what? I’m ready to slip into a new season. Call it sipping season. As autumn leaves start to fall and the weather becomes increasingly chilly, that’s the time for sophisticated drinks meant to warm the spirit at a leisurely pace. I’ve been seeking a new way to understand and fully enjoy the spirits of the season, and I think I found just the drink. Let’s get into the Manhattan and the Black Manhattan, shall we?
“It is a drink that really lets the spirits that I love really shine.” – Alise Leslie, writer, mixologist and co-founder of The R&B Representers podcast
The Manhattan cocktail itself dates back to the 1800’s. The book, The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail tells it all. Despite some historic debate, the original Manhattan Club of New York laid claim to the origins of the drink that galvanized the bartending world and became a classic American cocktail. In 2005, renowned bartender Todd Smith created the first…
