Ingredients

  • 2 ozirish whiskey
  • ½ ozdry vermouth
  • ½ ozbenedictine
  • 🍋Lemon twist (expressed and discarded)(garnish)

🔧 Tools

mixing glassbar spoonjiggerstrainercoupe glass

Instructions

  1. Combine Irish whiskey, dry vermouth, and Bénédictine in a mixing glass.
  2. Fill with ice and stir for 20–25 seconds until well chilled.
  3. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
  4. Express a lemon twist over the glass to release the oils, then discard the twist.

📜 History

The Brainstorm first appeared in Hugo R. Ensslin's "Recipes for Mixed Drinks" (2nd edition, 1917) and was reprinted in Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. For decades it was an obscure historical footnote until bartender Al Sotack championed it at Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co in Philadelphia and later at Jupiter Disco in Brooklyn (2016 onward). PUNCH profiled the drink in the context of Sotack's influence on the modern cocktail revival, cementing its place as a bartender's drink: three ingredients, no shortcuts.

#classic#stirred#whiskey#irish whiskey#benedictine#vermouth#vintage