JANUARY 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 65
Tradition with a twist
Manhattan Coffee Company: Honu’s take on a classic
By CJ ARLOTTA
Making a Manhattan is bartending
101. But mixologists at Honu
Kitchen & Cocktails in Huntington
mean business with a stimulating
new coffee-flavored spin on this
classic New York cocktail they
brewed up.
They call it Manhattan Coffee
Company. The name is a nod to
the original Manhattan, which
calls for two parts bourbon to one
part sweet vermouth and bitters
garnished with a maraschino
cherry for good measure.
Manhattan Coffee Company’s
recipe cuts down the vermouth to
make room for the cordial — threequarter
part vermouth and onequarter
part cordial.
“The inspiration was just to just
bring as many coffee aspects into
the cocktail as I could with still
keeping the flavors of a traditional
Manhattan, keeping the bourbon
as the main profile, and then just
all the subtle nuances of coffee
throughout,” says Thomas Nocella,
general manager at Honu, a chic
upscale New American hot spot
situated on New York Avenue in the
heart of downtown Huntington.
Served in a coupe cocktail glass,
Manhattan Coffee Company is
a sophisticated blend of Hudson
Baby Bourbon, González Byass
“La Copa” Vermouth, Koval Coffee
Liqueur, espresso bitters and coffee
dust.
“I try to not use the big companies,”
Nocella says. “I just feel like they
sell themselves,
and if we could
give one of the
smaller guys
an opportunity
to get some
exposure on
a cocktail list,
then if I put
this bottle on
my back bar,
it might get
ordered.”
The bourbon
and bitters are
sourced from
New York.
Spicing up the
drink are a
shaved orange
peel to “bring
out some citrus notes,” Nocella
says. The coffee dust is made from
ground Italian coffee beans. There’s
also an Amarena cherry with an
added twist in Honu’s Manhattan.
“I’m taking those cherries out of
the syrup that they come in, and
then soaking them in iced coffee
to bring coffee throughout the
cherry,” he says.
Honu’s Manhattan ages in an
oak barrel for at least two weeks.
They take two bottles out from the
barrel, and then refill the barrel
with another two bottles, so there’s
always aging going on. Technically,
the bartender could serve a twomonth
aged Manhattan Coffee
Company to a customer.
“It doesn’t get a crazy oaky flavor,”
Nocella says. “I feel like it blends
well, where it melts the flavors
together.”
He’s been using the same barrel for
more than two years now. Other
Manhattan variations have also
aged in the barrel, including ones
with other base liquors: rum and
tequila. Honu during the summer
offered a clear Manhattan, which
didn’t see any aging, so prior to
Manhattan Coffee Company,
Nocella dumped in some vanilla
whiskey, black cherry whiskey,
crème de cacao and port wine. He
left the mix to age for three months.
Manhattan Coffee Company’s
target customer is the traditionalist
on the lookout for a cocktail with
a twist, one subtle enough to boast
authenticity.
“I would say if you’re not a
traditional bourbon or Manhattan
drinker, it’s most likely not
for you,” Nocella says. “But if
you’re a traditional Manhattan
drinker, an old-fashioned drinker,
someone who likes bourbon
neat or bourbon on the rocks, it’s
something I think would be very
eye-opening.”
Honu Kitchen & Cocktails is
located at 363 New York Ave. in
Huntington. They can be reached at
honukitchen.com or 631-421-6900.
PRESS MAIN DISH
Honu Kitchen & Cocktails GM Thomas Nocella adds bitters to the mix.
Honu’s Manhattan Coffee Company is an eye-opening
new take on the classic cocktail.