The Slope Recipe

By
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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Updated March 24, 2025
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Jessica Leibowitz

Dating back to the horse-and-buggy era, the Manhattan is one of the most venerable of cocktails--also, to use parlance from the digital era, one of the most hacked.

Countless manifestations of this whiskey-vermouth-bitters combo dot vintage bar manuals, and in recent years, bartenders have been trying out new variations with great success. Here's one from Julie Reiner, owner of Flatiron Lounge in Manhattan and Clover Club in Brooklyn, called the Slope.

Similar in approach to the Red Hook, another Brooklyn-themed Manhattan variation, the Slope--named for the borough's Park Slope neighborhood--utilizes an extra-bitter style of vermouth called Punt e Mes, then tempers the bitterness with the stone-fruit sweetness of apricot liqueur. The result is potent, balanced and memorable; an excellent cocktail for a mid-autumn evening.

Recipe Details

The Slope Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Total 5 mins
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 ounces rye whiskey

  • 3/4 ounce Punt e Mes (an Italian vermouth)

  • 1/4 ounce apricot brandy (Marie Brizard’s Apry is recommended)

  • 1 dash Angostura bitters

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a bar glass and add cracked ice. Stir well for 20 seconds and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
216Calories
0gFat
5gCarbs
0gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories216
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g0%
Saturated Fat 0g0%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 3mg0%
Total Carbohydrate 5g2%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 2mg0%
Iron 0mg0%
Potassium 22mg0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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