Brooklyn Cocktail

The Brooklyn cocktail is a pre-Prohibition classic combining rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and the bittersweet French liqueur, Amer Picon.

The cocktail is frequently credited to theater actor and playwright Maurice Hegeman while he was a regular at Brooklyn’s Schmidt Cafe in 1910. However, Hegeman’s version of hard cider, absinthe, and ginger ale offers little resemblance to the cocktail we know today. 

The drink was more likely invented by Jacob “Jack” Grohusko, the New York City-based turn-of-the-century barman whose recipe, first published in his 1908 cocktail book Jack’s Manual, hews closest to today’s most commonly known version.

Grohusko was head bartender at Wall Street’s Baracca’s Restaurant in the early 1900s when the Manhattan and the newly created Bronx cocktail were two of the most popular mixed drinks of the day. It's thought that he created the Brooklyn cocktail to capitalize on the acclaim of drinks named after New York boroughs. 

While the Manhattan (and the Bronx, to some degree) survived Prohibition, the Brooklyn fell into relative obscurity until the early 2000s, when it found a resurgence during the modern craft cocktail boom.

Many attribute the cocktail’s initial disappearance to a crucial ingredient in the drink, and one that was nearly impossible to source in the U.S. — Amer Picon, a French liqueur with complex notes of bittersweet orange peel. 

Once the Brooklyn resurfaced, it became a favorite of bartenders, particularly to riff on. It was around this time that the Brooklyn became less of a Manhattan variation and was instead the template from which a new family of cocktails evolved, named for Brooklyn neighborhoods such as the Greenpoint, Red Hook, Bay Ridge and Bushwick. Most feature a rye whiskey base, vermouth, and, usually, some kind of bitter element.

What makes the Brooklyn work

The Brooklyn is a stirred, spirit-forward cocktail. It’s big, boozy, and bittersweet — a hallmark of pre-Prohibition cocktails and exactly the kind of creation bartenders gravitated to in the mid-2000s. Just as rye whiskey experienced a revival in the U.S. around the same time, so did rye whiskey cocktails, with the Brooklyn becoming a fast favorite. But since Amer Picon was (and still is) so difficult to find, the drink's general template was often employed by bartenders seeking to plug-and-play various other whiskeys, vermouths and bitter liqueurs.

Rye whiskey is the base of the Brooklyn, less sweet than its bourbon counterpart and providing a robust, spice-forward backbone. Though Grohusko’s original variation called for an Italian sweet vermouth, this version follows the more modern take and uses a dry vermouth, making the Brooklyn more dry and herbaceous than its Manhattan cousin. 

Maraschino liqueur lends some sweetness as well as a touch of sour cherry and nutty notes. Amer Picon also contributes sweetness as well as bright citrus flavors and a bitter bite. Some substitutions for this French liqueur — sometimes referred to as a French amaro — are liqueurs with similar aromatics of orange peel zest, quinine, cola and tobacco. Bigallet China-China Amaro, Amaro Ciociaro, or Ramazzotti are all comparable replacements that will hold up in this full-bodied classic.