Pegu Club, New York, 2006.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | RYE WHISKEY | 45 % |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | DRY VERMOUTH | 18 % |
| ¼ oz · 8 ml | MARASCHINO LIQUEUR | 32 % |
| ¼ oz · 8 ml | CYNAR | 17 % |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 3.5 oz mixed with ice, 1.2 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Stirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +0.52 oz of water |
| Served | 3.5 + 0.52 = 4.02 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 1.2 ÷ 4.02 = 29.9 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 1.2 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 28 g · about 196 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM RYE · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
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FROM CYNAR
The bitter from gentian root, used across Campari, Aperol, sweet vermouth, Angostura, and most amari. Bitter compounds activate TAS2R taste receptors that evolved to detect plant alkaloids. The same machinery that makes broccoli taste bad to children also makes a Negroni taste like an adult ordered it.
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Rye, dry vermouth, maraschino and Cynar. Cynar's artichoke-leaf extract gives a vegetal bitterness distinct from gentian-based amari. This newer Brooklyn variant keeps both maraschino and amaro rather than collapsing them into one ingredient.
Chad Solomon created the Bensonhurst in 2006, while at Pegu Club and Milk & Honey, naming it for the Italian-American neighborhood just east of Bay Ridge where he lived. An alternative to the Brooklyn when Amer Picon was hard to get, it keeps the dry vermouth backbone but uses Cynar's artichoke profile in place of the Picon.
