The Bensonhurst cocktail is a contemporary classic that combines rye whiskey, dry vermouth, Cynar, and maraschino liqueur. Bartender Chad Solomon created the drink in the winter of 2006 while working at two of New York City’s most influential cocktail bars, Milk & Honey and Pegu Club.
In Regarding Cocktails Sasha Petraske’s posthumous 2016 book, written by Georgette Moger-Petraske, Solomon shares the drink’s origins. “I was inspired to create the Bensonhurst as an alternative to the Brooklyn cocktail, partly because of the lack of original-formula Amer Picon,” he says in the book. “Vincenzo Errico had already created the Red Hook at Milk & Honey in 2004 as the first of the Brooklyn variations, which set the precedent of choosing other Brooklyn neighborhoods to name the variations it spawned.”
The original Brooklyn, a nearly forgotten pre-Prohibition drink, combines rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and Amer Picon. Likely created as a Manhattan variation, it never achieved the same popularity. When bartenders rediscovered it during the early cocktail revival, sourcing Amer Picon proved difficult, prompting a host of creative substitutes. Many of the resulting riffs were named for Brooklyn neighborhoods and other New York City boroughs.
At the time, Solomon was living in the south Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst. Drawing inspiration from its Italian American community, he swapped in Cynar — the bittersweet, artichoke-based Italian amaro — for Amer Picon.
Why the Bensonhurst cocktail works
Compared with many early-2000s Brooklyn variations, the Bensonhurst stays relatively close to the original template, retaining the rye, dry vermouth, and maraschino. Cynar steps in for Amer Picon, lending a layered bitterness with earthy, subtly vegetal depth. The result is bold and aromatic, with spice, richness, and a savory finish — think of it as a Manhattan with a darker, more brooding side, or a Brooklyn, with even more of an edge.
Comments are closed.