Classic cocktail · Guided recipe
Bensonhurst
Start makingA Brooklyn cousin from the borough’s neighbourhoods: rye with dry vermouth, maraschino and a whisper of amaro. Dry, complex and bar-nerd approved.
In the glassRye whiskey · Dry vermouth · Maraschino liqueur · Amaro
See exact amounts
What goes in
Ingredients
Set up before you pour
Use a coupe glass.
The stem keeps your hand away from a cold drink, while the rounded bowl makes an up serve easy to sip.
- Standard size
- 200 ml6¾ oz
- Ice & serve
- Chill it first; serve without ice.
- If you don’t own one
- Use a small martini glass or stemmed dessert glass.
- cocktail shaker
- strainer (or a small sieve)
- jigger or measuring spoon
- Rye whiskey60 ml
- Dry vermouth22 ml
- Maraschino liqueur8 ml
- Amaro4 ml
From bottle to glass
Method
- 01
Measure into the shaker Pour 60 ml rye whiskey into your shaker
Rye whiskey
- 02
Measure into the shaker Add 22 ml dry vermouth
Dry vermouth
- 03
Measure into the shaker Add 8 ml maraschino liqueur
- Maraschino liqueur
- 04
Measure into the shaker Add 4 ml amaro
Amaro
- 05
Ice the shaker Fill the shaker with ice
- 06
Seal and shake Seal and shake hard
- 07
Strain cleanly Strain into a chilled glass — no ice
- 08
Finish the drink Finish it — add a cocktail cherry
Know your drink
About the Bensonhurst
A south Brooklyn address
Bensonhurst sits in the south of the borough, historically as Italian-American a neighborhood as any address in the city, which makes the amaro look less like a whim than it otherwise would. Nobody has ever said that was the reason. Credit for the recipe usually goes to Chad Solomon, working in New York bars in the mid-2000s.
Common questions
Bensonhurst FAQ
Where is the Amer Picon a Brooklyn calls for?
Left out deliberately. Picon is hard to buy and no longer tastes the way the old recipe intended, so this build hands its job to a few milliliters of amaro and lets the maraschino carry more weight. The result is drier and much less orange-scented.
Four milliliters of amaro. Which one survives at that dose?
Cynar is the usual answer and the right one. Its bitterness is vegetal rather than sweet, so it colors the finish without adding sugar to a drink that has plenty already. Averna or Montenegro mostly vanish at 4 ml; you would need double to notice them.
It tastes medicinal to me. Which ingredient is doing that?
The maraschino, nine times out of ten. Its cherry-pit note reads as almond extract or cough syrup to some palates, and 8 ml in a 95 ml drink is a lot of it. Halve it to 4 ml and take the dry vermouth up to 30 to fill the gap.
What happens if I use sweet vermouth instead of dry?
You land somewhere near a Red Hook with amaro added, which is a good drink but a much rounder one. Dry vermouth is what keeps this lean enough for the maraschino to read as bitter almond rather than dessert. Worth making both to hear the difference.
What ingredients are in a Bensonhurst?
A classic Bensonhurst calls for 60 ml (2 oz) Rye whiskey, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Dry vermouth, 8 ml (0.25 oz) Maraschino liqueur, 4 ml (0.25 oz) Amaro. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.
How strong is a Bensonhurst?
A standard Bensonhurst is roughly 37% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.
Is a Bensonhurst shaken or stirred?
A Bensonhurst is shaken. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.
Sharpen the technique
Skills used in this recipe
Where to go next
If you like the Bensonhurst, try these.
Brooklyn
A drier cousin of the Manhattan from the borough itself: rye, dry vermouth, a little maraschino and a bitter amaro. Sharp and grown-up.
View recipe
Old Pal
A drier, whiskey-based cousin of the Negroni: rye, dry vermouth and Campari in equal parts.
View recipe
Red Hook
A Brooklyn variation from the modern craft era: rye, sweet vermouth and a touch of maraschino. Rich and cherry-scented.
View recipe