Boulevardier Cocktail
on Mar 04, 2022, Updated Feb 29, 2024
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The classic cocktail made with whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth and Campari, garnished with a cherry and/or an orange twist!
This cocktail originated early in the last century, and it is also called a Campari Manhattan. It’s made with some sort of whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth and Campari — kind of like a Negroni and a Manhattan had a little cocktail baby. Make sure your Boulevardier is ice cold — that’s one of the keys to this perfect cocktail.
A Boulevardier is defined in the dictionary as “a sophisticated, socially active man who frequents fashionable places.” A man about town, and by town we mean Paris (hence the word Boulevard). And that’s pretty much who I picture sipping this drink (or a sophisticated, socially active woman who frequents fashionable places. Either way). I also picture them eating Zucchini Fritti with this lovely drink.
What is the Difference between a Boulevardier and a Negroni?
The short answer is the main booze. Both contain sweet vermouth and Campari, but a Boulevardier contains some sort of whiskey, while the Negroni is usually made with gin. Big difference!
Boulevardier Cocktail: The classic cocktail made with whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth and Campari, garnished with a cherry and/or an orange twist!
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You may want to tinker slightly with the amounts of vermouth and Campari – the vermouth adds sweetness, and the Campari adds a bitter grapefruit rind flavor, so dial the amount of those liquors up and down as you wish.
How to Serve and Garnish a Boulevardier
A boulevardier is usually served on the rocks, preferably with one nice big ice cube. You could also serve it neat or straight up, as long as it was well chilled first, but most of us like our drink to stay cold as we slowly sip it.
A lemon or orange rind twist is the usual garnish, and you can add a maraschino or other marinated cherry to the mix for additional flavor and visual appeal. Try to find some nice upscale marinated cherries to use to give this drink a final sophisticated twist.
How to Make a Boulevardier
Pour the bourbon into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Add the sweet vermouth.
Then add the Campari.
Shake well, then strain into a chilled rocks glass with an ice cube or two in it.
Garnish with the orange peel – give it a good twist over the glass before dropping it in).
And add the cherry.
Serve cold.
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Boulevardier Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces bourbon or rye whiskey
- 1 ounce sweet vermouth
- 1 ounce Campari
- Orange rind twist
- Maraschino or marinated cherry
Instructions
- Pour the bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Campari into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well, then strain into a chilled rocks glass with an ice cube or two in it.
- Garnish with the orange peel (give it a good twist over the glass before dropping it in), and add the cherry.
A cocktail like this that does not contain citrus juice, egg, or cream should be stirred not shaken.