Discover the Charm of the Left Hand Cocktail

Bob Sawyer

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Bourbon, Recipe, Recreations, Whiskey

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May 11, 2024

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last updated

5.0 from 1 vote

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This week I decided to try something a little different – a “love child” between a Negroni and a Manhattan, closer to a Boulevardier than anything, called The Left Hand Cocktail. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision: I wanted to try something different, and I had all of the ingredients right in front of me on the bar. So why not?

The Left Hand Cocktail was created by Sam Ross (of Penicillin and Paper Plane fame) of Milk & Honey in New York. It has everything you’d expect from a Boulevardier. This is the first time I’ve used Campari in a recipe for Bourbony, as I typically find it a little too bitter for my tastes, but the chocolate bitters round out the spice of the bourbon and vermouth and temper the bitterness of the Campari. And the cherries on top? Are the cherries on top.

It’s a simple cocktail to make – I whipped one up in about five minutes. Honestly, getting the cherries out of the jar and running them onto the cocktail pick took as long as adding and stirring up the ingredients.

Give this one a try and let me know what you think in the comments!

The Left Hand Cocktail

5.0 from 1 vote

Difficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

US Metric

1 1/2 ounces 1 1/2 bourbon
3/4 ounce 3/4 Campari
3/4 ounce 3/4 sweet vermouth
3 dashes 3 Fee Bros. Aztec Chocolate bitters
Garnish: brandied cherries

Directions

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled
Strain into a chilled coupe glass
Garnish with brandied cherries

Equipment

Notes

I used what I had on hand for this one: Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, Campari, Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth, and Fee Bros. Aztec Chocolate Bitters

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Tags:

bitters, bourbon, campari, cherry, chocolate, liqueurs, Recipe, vermouth, whiskey

AUTHOR

Bob Sawyer

I’ve always (well, since I was of legal age to do so) enjoyed whiskeys of all stripes, but really became interested in creating my own concoctions, or learning/figuring out how to mix cocktails that I’d had elsewhere, when I helped a web design client build her own mixology/cocktail recipes site, mixnsip.com. In fact, I appear in a number of her videos sampling the results of her experiments. She even created a special scotch-based cocktail, “The Bob,” just for me. So now I’m sharing the wealth, so to speak. When I try a unique bourbon-based cocktail (really the only kind I drink), I then like to figure out how to make them at home. It’s easy when the bar or restaurant includes the ingredients on their menus — then it’s up to me to figure out the ratios, and let me tell you, half the fun is just getting there! Feel free to try any of these at home, and if you have one you’ve tried you’d like to share, send it to me and I’ll feature it on the site! Cheers!

Hi! I’m Bob!

If it’s got bourbon in it, I’m drinking it. And if it’s really good, I’m gonna figure out how to make it, and share it with you. Because I’m good like that.

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