Slope

2 1⁄2 oz Rye (Bulleit or Wild Turkey)

3⁄4 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Punt e Mes

1⁄4 oz Apricot liqueur, Rothman and Winter

2 ds Bitters, Angostura

2 Maraschino cherry (as garnish)

Instructions

Stir, strain, straight up, cocktail glass, garnish.

Cocktail summary

Created by

Julie Reiner, Flatiron Lounge, New York, NY

Year

2009

Is an

authentic recipe

Reference

Twitter interaction with the creator

Curator

Not yet rated

User rating

3.5 stars

(10 ratings)

Cocktail Book

From other users

Created as a "Manhattan that is not a Manhattan" (and a sort of companion drink to the Gin Blossom). Sadly, just not much different/better than a Manhattan.
Other Brooklyn drinks (e.g. Prospect Park) are more to my liking. — ★★★

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Comments

Zachary Pearson commented on 10/02/2016:

Curated this - because there was some confusion as to the proportions of this drink, I asked Julie Reiner and she sent me a picture of the recipe (which must be from The Craft Cocktail Party). Updated this to the specified brands - she's specific about them, changed 1 dash of Angostura to 2. Thanks, Zachary

Shawn C commented on 10/02/2023:

Should this be called "The Slope" rather than just "Slope"? That is the primary way I see it listed, and it refers to a neighborhood, so the emphasis would make sense here. There seem to be a LOT of slight variations of this cocktail including later versions (plural) attributed to Julie Reiner herself. There is a 2017 video by her using Maker's Mark bourbon (rather than rye) and Giffard Apricot--so it doesn't look like formula is set as one might expect. In various recipes on the web the base spirit is listed from 2 to 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 oz, while apricot is from 1/4 to 1/2 and Angostura bitters from 1 to 2 dashes.

I tried two different versions of this tonight based on a slightly different recipe and thought it was quite good (as did the others who sampled what I made.) I used "only" 2 oz of Rittenhouse Rye for both, with 3/4 Punt e Mes, and 1/4 R&W Apricot. This had plenty of peppery rye and alcohol heat which reinforced the bitter components in Punt e Mes. I used a single dash of Angostura for one, and a single dash of Abbott's bitters (my own bottling based on Darcy O'Neil's recipe) for the other.

The Angostura was pretty noticeable at only a dash, and this cocktail is a good candidate for experimenting with different aromatic bitters to appreciate the differences they provide. I somewhat preferred the cardamom/clove/fennel from the Abbott's over the more cinnamon baking spice of the Angostura, but others were evenly split as to preference.

Slope

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