Metropole
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 24.4% ABV ∙
A stirred, brandy-based cousin of the Manhattan, the Metropole pairs Cognac and dry vermouth with sugar syrup and a bitters duo, served up in a coupe. Silky and cool with a gentle sweetness, this sips softly before a spiced, lingering finish brightened by a fragrant citrus snap.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Cognac 40 mlDry vermouth 30 mlSugar syrup 5 mlCreole-style bitters 2 dashesOrange bitters 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and discard
- Garnish with a maraschino cherry
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before stirring so the drink doesn't lose temperature the moment it's strained up.
- Add the Creole-style and orange bitters as the last step into the mixing glass so their dash counts stay accurate.
- Stir over ice until well-chilled and slightly diluted, then fine-strain to keep the twist's oils the only texture on top.
- Express the orange twist directly over the surface before discarding it — the oils, not the peel, are what perfume the drink.
History
The Metropole is a Cognac-based cousin of the Manhattan, first published in George J. Kappeler's 1895 guide Modern American Drinks. Kappeler credited it as the house cocktail of New York's Hotel Metropole, a bar and café at Broadway and 42nd Street in the heart of what would become Times Square, then known as a lively, somewhat disreputable late-night spot. Some accounts describe it as a subtle adaptation of the earlier Metropolitan Cocktail, swapping the base spirit and vermouth style while keeping the same Manhattan-like structure. The hotel's café closed in 1912, but the drink survived through Kappeler's book and later reprints of early Waldorf-Astoria bar guides, keeping the name and recipe in circulation among cocktail historians.
