Remember the Maine
ClassicA Manhattan with cherry and absinthe, from a war correspondent.
Rich and brooding, with spicy rye and sweet vermouth forming a Manhattan-like base. Cherry Heering adds a dark, jammy depth, and the absinthe rinse leaves a haunting anise perfume — complex, boozy, and contemplative.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Rye Whiskey
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Cherry Heering
- 1 dash Absinthe
- Cherry · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Rinse a chilled coupe with absinthe and discard the excess.
- 2
Add the rye, sweet vermouth, and Cherry Heering to a mixing glass with ice.
- 3
Stir until well chilled and strain into the prepared coupe.
- 4
Garnish with a cherry.
The Story
The Remember the Maine comes from Charles H. Baker's 1939 travelogue "The Gentleman's Companion," which he claimed to have sipped in Havana during the 1933 Cuban revolution — instructing the reader to stir "gently, in the clockwise direction" while pondering the drink's namesake battleship. It is a Manhattan gone continental, dressed with cherry liqueur and a whisper of absinthe. Few cocktails carry a better story.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
