On a recent night out, Erin and I tried a new drink called an espresso hazelnut Manhattan. Manhattan’s are pretty much straight bourbon with a dash of sweet vermouth and a maraschino cherry, so needless to say Erin isn’t much of a fan, but this particular espresso version tastes anything like a real Manhattan. Kind of like comparing a real Gin martini to a chocolate vodka martini. The only thing they share is part of a name, but I digress. Getting back to the story, the espresso hazelnut Manhattan was so good that I had to order two more (1 was for Erin). We asked the bartender what she put in it and she said that it was bourbon + an espresso/hazelnut infused vodka from Crater Lake .

Last month, we dropped into our local liquor store and we found the Crater Lake vodka! We were looking forward to experimenting and I used it as an excuse to pick up a bottle of Makers Mark bourbon. The first several batches favored the bourbon too heavily. I’d say the ratio where it tasted most like the drinks we ordered in the bar was when we mixed three parts vodka and one part bourbon. Mix the liquor with ice in a shaker and pour into a martini glass; garnish with a cherry and enjoy. Here’s another website with a bunch of recipes for crater lake products. They include the recipe for the Manhatten and they suggest the opposite ratio I list. You’ll have to let me know which one you prefer (presuming you the reader is at least 21 years old and not going to drink and drive…)

It’s not Irish, but you could always whip one up on Saturday and chase it with a Guinness
Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Recipe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.