DEMOCRACY’S DISCONTENT — A COCKTAIL

“Those who would shore up borders, banish

ambiguity, harden the distinction between insiders

and outsiders, and promise a politics ‘to take back our

culture and take back our country.’” Michael Sandel in

Democracy’s Discontent, 1996.

This is a drink designed for 2020. It’s a derivative of a Manhattan, but with Amaro instead of sweet vermouth. With a nod to Michael Sandel’s book of the same name, this cocktail is a drinkable homage to the philosophical undercurrents of the times.

The Recipe

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye (any whiskey will suffice)

1.5 oz Montenegro

2 dashes angostura bitters

Maraschino cherries (candied cherries)

Orange peel (optional garnish, recommended if not using high-proof rye)

Add liquid ingredients to mixing glass with ice. Stir until the glass is cold to the touch.

Strain the liquid into a serving glass: either a rocks glass with a large ice cube or a coupe (traditional serving).

Garnish by dropping or skewering the Maraschino cherries.

*If this drink is too strong then stir longer to dilute or add a small spoonful of the candied cherry juice to sweeten it up a bit.

Why these ingredients?

Whiskey has become the quintessential American liquor. Before the American Revolution rum was the preferred drink, but after the war Britain dominated the oceans, trade with the Caribbean sank, and the first “buy local, buy American” was launched to the benefit of whiskey. The growth and cultural impact whiskey had was a direct result of the Revolution’s desire to bring a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Whiskey represents Democracy as the nation’s birth and our love of whiskey are intimately intertwined.

Montenegro is not well known in the United States, but amaros are like the boozier cousins to vermouths. What makes the amaro Montenegro so relevant is that Montenegro is from Bologna, Italy; a city about an hour away from Predappio, Italy. Predappio is where fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was born and laid to rest. Nothing is more the enemy of democracy than fascism and Mussolini will forever be intimately intertwined in the history and lore of fascism. The traditional Manhattan cocktail has one part vermouth to two parts whiskey, but since fascism is on the rise like the world hasn’t seen in a century go ahead and add that extra half an ounce.

Angostura bitters began as a medicinal tincture before cornering the cocktail global bitters space — long before modern globalization. It was created by a German immigrant to the New World (Venezuela) and then found its global success after immigrating to the Caribbean (Trinidad). Two dashes are required for this drink: the first to represent the lingering bitterness towards immigrants throughout the world, and the second to represent the bitterness towards globalization and the subsequent, inexhaustible greed that corrupts and corrupts and corrupts.

Maraschino cherries are candied cherries and represent the sweeter side of life — that little bit of luxury that working-class Americans used to work towards. In today’s world, in this drink, they represent that dying relic we call the American Dream. The Dream that all working class Americans had the possibility, the opportunity, to achieve and earn their piece of American prosperity. That Dream is all but dead and gone — therefore, place the cherries into the cocktail with a reverent silence and solemnity out of respect for the Dream that has passed on, the Dream that has passed out of reach.

This is adapted from my book Red, White, and Blue: Angry, Naive and Depressed that can be downloaded from Gumroad.com: https://gum.co/WQsCY