(from Wikipedia):
The original “Manhattan cocktail” was a mix of “American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura Bitters”… The variations on the theme are endless, to name a few:
- A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky.[9]
- A Dry Manhattan is made with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth and served with a twist.[9]
- A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.[9]
- A Brandy Manhattan is made with brandy rather than rye.[13]
- A Ruby Manhattan is made with port rather than vermouth.[14]
- A Metropolitan is similar to a brandy manhattan, but with a 3-to-1 ratio of brandy to vermouth.[13]
- A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient.[15]
- A Royal Manhattan is made with Crown Royal Canadian Whisky.[15]
- A Southern Manhattan is made with Southern Comfort.[15]
- A Tijuana Manhattan is made with an Anejo Tequila.[16]
- The Fourth Regiment is a classic (ca. 1889) cocktail that uses a 1/1 ratio of whiskey and vermouth, and uses three dashes of three different bitters – orange bitters, celery bitters, and Peychaud’s Bitters.[17]
End quote.
Apologies teetolaters (See also Roy Rogers and my personal favorite the Shirley Temple).
No coincidence that designing knits and cocktails bares a certain resemblance. You have a fairly finite set of ingredients and tools and from them the ability to produce endless variation. Therein lies a small clue to the genius that is Thea Colman’s Baby Cocktails.
So I was tremendously flattered when she asked me to collaborate on a little experiment with her: Mixed Drinks- 2 designers, a few common ingredients, see what happens.
We started with the project: a hat. We walked and talked at Rhinebeck and came up with the perfect yarn: a pair of cormo blends from Foxfire Fiber. Then chose a theme to be the common thread: Bourbon… Or, lace. However you prefer to think about it. We spent an evening brainstorming over a couple of cocktails and a LOT of stitch dictionaries discussing our mutual favorites and their variations and came up with these.
I love how they have so much in common- fingering weight* held double stranded, deep ribbed cuffs, allover creative lace stitches. And so much about them that is different- Thea’s is a refined bohemian slouchy beret with a rib and eyelet motif that reminds me of early art Deco. Mine is a bit more rustic with a twist on old fashioned feather and fan lace and a simple 2 over 2 cable cross. Our yarns are subtly different too but the projects them selves are pretty interchangeable, substitute any heavier sport or DK weight yarn of your choice for either hat.
All the details are on the Ravelry pages, 2 hats, 2 designers, 1 PDF available here now.
Last but not least:
My Manhattan Cocktail:
2oz Bourbon
1 generous splash of Vermouth
A dash of Vanilla Bourbon
A pinch of orange zest
Please visit the Baby Cocktails blog for Thea’s Manhattan
*Thea’s yarn is actually lace weight, but the alpaca fiber in the blend has a lot of halo thus the gauge remains the same.
Photograhy © 2013 Amanda Johnston
I love these hats and this collaboration and having petted the yarn at Rhinebeck I know how luscious it is. More tempting than Bourbon for me.