W hat do you order at a quintessential Manhattan bar? A Brooklyn, of course! I left New York City decades ago, but Brooklyn, the borough that's become globally hip, is still truly home. So, the maroon-colored cocktail named after it is on my list of favorite New York things.

I now live in Hamburg and work for DIE ZEIT, but when I'm back in New York on assignment, there are a few after-work musts. A late-night run across the Brooklyn Bridge, an off-Broadway show, a visit to Bar Pisellino in the West Village. (Their Americano Sbagliato is to die for.)

To really clear my head after a grueling deadline, I walk over to 30 Hudson Yards and ascend 101 floors to Peakaboo. Settling into one of 12 comfy leather seats at the bar (reserve in advance!), I'll sip a Brooklyn. It's a riff on the classic Manhattan cocktail that replaces Angostura bitters with maraschino liqueur and Picon.

Is this drink new? As Brooklynites say, "Fuhgeddaboudit!" It dates back to 1905, when Jacob Grohusko, the city's first prominent Jewish bartender, mixed it up at a bar on Wall Street, hoping to attract bankers from the boroughs on their way home.

The Brooklyn offers shaved lemon peel instead of the Manhattan's maraschino cherry. Set on the bartop at Peakaboo, framed by the city outside, the cocktail is picture-perfect but with an edgier taste — just like the Brooklyn I know and love.

Brooklyn

  • 2 ounces rye whiskey
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth (or dry if you prefer)
  • ¼ ounce Amer Picon
  • ¼ ounce maraschino liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass half filled with ice. Using a long spoon, stir until the ingredients are well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist or maraschino cherry.

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Interred ArticleId
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Glossary

Word Translation Phonetics SearchStrings
ounce Unze (ca. 30 ml) [aʊns]
rye Roggen [raɪ]
ingredient Zutat [ɪnˈgriːdiƏnt]
chilled hier: gleichmäßig (ab)gekühlt
strain sth. etw. abseihen, gießen
garnish sth. etw. garnieren
lemon twist Zitronenscheibe
quintessential wesentlich; hier: klassisch [ˌkwɪntƏˈsenʃəl*] quintessential
borough Stadtbezirk [ˈbɜːoʊ*] borough
maroon kastanienbraun, rötlich-braun maroon
on assignment für einen Auftrag/Arbeitseinsatz on assignment
grueling zermürbend, strapaziös [ˈgruːƏlɪŋ] grueling
ascend hochsteigen; hier: hochfahren [Əˈsend] ascend
Peakaboo Wortspiel mit “peekaboo” (Kuckuckspiel für Kleinkinder)(peak, Gipfel; peek, gucken) [ˈpiːkƏbuː] Peakaboo
settle into sth. hier: es sich in etw. gemütlich machen
comfy ifml. bequem [ˈkʌmfi] comfy
sip sth. etw. schlürfen sip
riff hier: Variation, Abwandlung riff
fuhgeddaboudit US ifml. “forget about it”; vergiss es!; hier etwa: definitiv nein Fuhgeddaboudit
Jewish jüdisch [ˈdʒuːɪʃ] Jewish
shaved hier: fein gehobelt shaved
edgy ifml. kantig; hier: intensiv [ˈedʒi]
editor-in-chief Chefredakteur(in)
billionaire Milliardär(in)