A chocolate orange manhattan satisfies my craving for two favorite flavors. These are traditional pairings and if I’m sipping a bourbon neat for a nightcap, a piece of chocolate or an M&M is never far away.
Make this sublime cocktail two different ways, via natural ingredient infusion, or with commercially flavored bitters. Each is then combined with sweet vermouth, chilled and served up or on the rocks.
Infused Manhattan
Using this method infuses bourbon with fresh orange and cocoa nibs. The raw nibs impart chocolate flavor, aroma and some natural bitterness. Infusion is a fancy word for soaking things and you can do this with a Porthole, or the old fashioned way in a mason jar. They will taste the same unless you get a good look at the porthole, then all bets are off because it is so gorgeous.
Chop the cocoa nibs, zest and peel the orange
Arrange the ingredients in the porthole, seal it up and add the bourbon
Ready in a day. Leave for two for stronger flavor.
Chocolate Orange Manhattan with Bitters
You can make a delicious manhattan using commercially prepared bitters. This is the easy way and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Regardless which method you choose, combining chocolate, orange and bourbon creates a transcendent cocktail.
Chocolate Orange Manhattan
Bourbon, vermouth rosso with orange and chocolate bitters. Oh My!
- Prep Time: 30
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
Infused Manhattan
- 1/2 oz raw cocoa nibs
- 1 orange – zested
- 8–10 oz premium bourbon
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- Orange peel or cherry – garnish
Manhattan with Bitters
- 2–1/2 oz premium bourbon
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 1 dash orange bitters
- 2 dashes chocolate bitters
- Cherry or orange peel – garnish
Instructions
Infused Manhattan
- Remove the zest of the orange with a microplane and reserve
- Cut the orange into 1/2″ slices, then remove the outer rind, taking care to remove all the pith
- Add the nibs, orange flesh, orange zest and bourbon to your infusion vessel and rest 24-48 hours
- Filter (using a coffee filter) and reserve the infused bourbon
- Fill a mixing glass halfway with ice
- Add 2-1/2 oz infused bourbon and 1 oz vermouth per cocktail
- Stir, strain and pour over rocks
- Garnish with a cherry or orange peel and serve
Manhattan with Bitters
- Chill a cocktail glass
- Fill a mixing glass halfway with ice
- Add the bourbon, vermouth and both bitters
- Stir for 30 seconds to chill
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
- Add a cherry or orange peel garnish and serve
And just one more thing…
The most fun part of experimenting with these recipes is the taste testing. Applications are accepted through the contact form.
Notes
Visit my Guide To Infusing Spirits for detailed how-to information.