Squid Mixes: Chocolate Manhattan

Lake Champlain Chocolate (LCC) offers a Manhattan chocolate truffle, a cross-brand promotion with Whistle Pig Whiskey.  We picked up a few to try over the weekend and figured they might make pair well with a chocolate-flavored Manhattan.  Not surprisingly, there are several variations available on the web.  I used Heather Wibbels's recipe at Cocktail Contessa as a template.  She combines bourbon, sweet vermouth, creme de cacao, chocolate bitters and spicy bitters (optional) in a chocolate shavings-rimmed glass.  I made a few substitutions: rye instead of bourbon and a cherry garnish instead of the chocolate rim, in both cases mimicking the LCC offering.  I skipped the spicy bitters.

I felt the drink turned out well - pleasantly chocolatey, including a satisfying tint.  My wife enjoyed it, asserting it's definitely better than a chocolate martini.  Interestingly, caramel is the predominant flavor in the truffle and as such, a splash of caramel liqueur could be a meaningful addition to the drink.  Though at what point would it become a Caramel Manhattan rather than a Chocolate one? 

Wibbels provides a drier variation with less cacao, more vermouth and less bitters.  Of course, one could go further and use Punt e Mes, dry vermouth or a combination.