Bushwick

I like this better than the Brooklyn.

The earliest known Brooklyn recipe is this from Jack's Manual circa 1908. The dry vermouth variation won out though.

This is a great riff of the Manhattan, to me the best cocktail in the world. I‘ve had it many times, and the ultimate combination is Sazerac Rye, Cinzano 1757, Amer Picon and Maraska Maraschino from Croatia. So balanced and elegant!

Curated to update broken source link.

This is close to the original 1908 Brooklyn/Dean Cocktail in Jack Grohusko's 1908 "Jack's Manual". The original Brooklyn used sweet vermouth (not dry)...although the Dean Cocktail in the same work is identical, so it might have been a transcription/printing error that carried through in later editions as well. The original 1908 Brooklyn was equal parts rye and vermouth w/ small amounts of Amer Picon and maraschino.

The current recipe using imported 21% ABV Amer Picon is somewhat disappointing, at least when paired with Rittenhouse and Carpano Antica. (Cocchi di Torino might be better based on a previous trial of the 1908 Brooklyn w/Amer Picon.) The current Amer Picon is a reformulation that lacks some of the character of the original pre-1970 formula. The orange aroma is present, but the orange flavor is mostly absent supplanted with more of a coffee ground center. I plan to retry this with Amer Boudreau, but there is a long lead time on making a batch of the dried orange peel tincture used to make it. In the meantime, I suspect Phil Ward's recommendation of Amaro Lucano would be better, or Bigallet China-China Amer which would deliver the orange flavor that went missing. And for a shorter term solution, Darren Scott's Amer Picon facsimile using a mix of dried bitter orange and fresh orange peel bitters could be worth a try.

The NYC crew settled on Amaro Ciociaro as the closest match that is easily available over Lucano (especially given the Sam Ross' app and other Milk & Honey related recipes). Lucano is elegant but a little softer in flavor instead of packing the ability to do what it needs to in a 1/4 oz like Ciociaro or the current Picon.

Yes, I was surprised by the Lucano recommendation as it lacks as much orange, particularly on the nose. There are about half a dozen cocktails that I like to make with Lucano, but CioCiaro has been the traditional recommended amaro sub for Picon (not counting the more orange flavored, but sweeter Bigallet China-china.)