As temperatures cool and we enter into the cozy fall season, Malibu Beach Inn’s Carbon Beach Club Bar Director, Josh Curtis, is serving guests nostalgic autumn flavors. The Apple Bacon Manhattan is a seasonal twist on the classic whiskey cocktail. Like all of the hotel’s seasonal cocktails, the Apple Bacon Manhattan incorporates spirits from local producers and ingredients from family-owned farmers.

Without a doubt, Manhattans are one of the most classic cocktails, first created in the 1860s by a bartender on Broadway. However, Matthew Tempchin, a bar consultant at CBC who works with Curtis, is responsible for this fall twist on a Manhattan.

“He created this inventive spinoff that includes grilled apples and candied bacon as a garnish,” Curtis says. Above all, Tempchin wanted to create fall whiskey cocktails that were from the kitchen and built with culinary techniques.

Whiskey and apples

The Apple Bacon Manhattan features 100% rye whiskey from Los Angeles Distillery, similar to the rye whiskey found in a classic Manhattan cocktail. Curtis makes sure to source only the best ingredients for Malibu Beach Inn’s guests. The green apples also come from the Malibu Farmers Market, open Sunday mornings, and the bacon is from Hill Meat, a family-owned and operated company in Pendleton, Oregon. The bacon is 100% natural pork with no fillers or additives.

Additionally, the whiskey is first fat washed with bacon, which creates a bacon-infused whiskey.

“It is excellent by itself or in the Apple Bacon Manhattan,” Curtis says. “The toasty notes in the charred bacon and grilled apples are right at home with the season of fall.”

While Tempchin uses bourbon to create these fall whiskey cocktails, Curtis prefers rye. He thinks the herbal and spicy notes of rye pair better with Hill Meat bacon.

Apple Bacon Manhattan

  • 2 parts bacon whiskey
  • 1 part Carpana Antica vermouth
  • Roasted apples
  • Candied bacon

Technique:

Build all ingredients in a rocks glass. Measure the above ingredients in a 2:1 ratio. The grilled apples should be prepared in advance and sliced thin. Enjoy!