Remember the Maine
Remember the Maine is 60ml of rye, 22.5ml of sweet vermouth and 15ml of dark cherry liqueur, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe rinsed with 7.5ml of absinthe, with a cherry. Those are the IBA’s measures. About 3.1 UK units. Charles H. Baker Jr. recorded it in The Gentleman’s Companion in 1939, writing that he drank it in Havana in 1933, during the revolution. Punch says the Maine, a US naval ship, was sitting off the coast of Havana in 1898 when it exploded and sank, and that journalists used the phrase “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain” as a rallying cry that would jumpstart the Spanish-American war. It is a Manhattan with the vermouth cut back to make room for dark cherry, and anise from the absinthe on the nose. The rinse is the delicate part: swirled round the glass and poured away, the absinthe scents the drink without taking it over.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Maraschino cherry
Ingredients
60ml
Around 40% ABV. In our view rye’s spice runs against the cherry rather than with it, which keeps a dark, fruity drink from tasting sweet. Bourbon works and makes a softer one.
22.5ml
A rich Italian style at our working 16% ABV, cut back to make room for the cherry. We keep it in the fridge once open and use it within about four weeks.
15ml
A dark cherry liqueur, at our working figure of 24% ABV; the IBA names Luxardo’s cherry brandy, and Cherry Heering is the other common choice. Clear maraschino is a different liqueur and makes a thinner, sharper drink.
7.5ml
For the rinse only: swirled round the chilled coupe and poured away. Absinthe runs from 45% to 74% ABV, so the same measure stirred into the drink would take it over.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer.
Pour the absinthe into the coupe, swirl until the inside is coated, and discard it.
Add the rye, sweet vermouth and cherry liqueur to a mixing glass with cubed ice.
Stir for 20 to 30 seconds, until the glass is very cold.
Strain into the rinsed coupe and drop in a cherry.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; a cherry where the IBA gives lemon zest; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Rinse the glass; do not stir the absinthe in. Swirl 7.5ml round a chilled coupe until the inside is coated, then pour it away. The anise should reach the nose first and fade, and the same measure stirred through turns the drink into a sweet Sazerac. Use a dark cherry liqueur at about 24% ABV, not clear maraschino. The drink wants stone-fruit depth; maraschino is drier and nuttier and leaves it thin. Stir for 20 to 30 seconds. At about 3.1 units it is a strong drink, and the dilution is what lets the cherry open up instead of sitting thick and sweet.
Behind the Remember the Maine
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Punch says the Maine, a US naval ship, was sitting off the coast of Havana in 1898 when it exploded and sank, and that journalists used “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain” as a rallying cry that would jumpstart the Spanish-American war.
Punch says Charles H. Baker Jr. described the drink in his 1939 Gentleman’s Companion, in the context of the 1933 Cuban Revolution, when he happened to be in Havana. Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book of 1935, which we read in the Internet Archive scan, lists McKinley’s Delight: two-thirds whiskey and one-third Italian vermouth, with two dashes of cherry brandy and a dash of absinthe, stirred. It is nearly the same drink, and Crockett writes that he cannot ascertain why it was so named.
A Manhattan With an Accent
The frame is a Manhattan: rye and sweet vermouth, stirred and served up. The vermouth is cut back to make room for the cherry, and the two read as one darker fruit.
The absinthe sits outside the drink, as a film on the glass. That puts it close to the Sazerac, another stirred rye drink served in an anise-rinsed glass.
The Cherry Liqueur
The IBA names Luxardo’s cherry brandy, and Cherry Heering is the other common choice: dark, sweet liqueurs at around 24% ABV that deepen the vermouth’s fruit.
Clear maraschino is made from marasca cherries with their stones and tastes drier and nuttier. It makes a sharper, thinner drink. At 15ml the cherry reads as depth; push it much further and the rye loses ground.
The Absinthe Rinse
Pour 7.5ml into a chilled coupe, tilt and turn it until the inside is coated, and pour the rest away. What stays behind is enough to scent the drink.
Stirred into the drink, the same 7.5ml would be the strongest thing in the glass and would bury the cherry. The rinse keeps the anise to the nose and the first sip.
The IBA Recipe and Ours
Remember the Maine: the IBA’s version and ours
Rye whiskey
- IBA
- 60ml
- Ours
- 60ml
Sweet vermouth
- IBA
- 22.5ml
- Ours
- 22.5ml
Cherry liqueur
- IBA
- 15ml Luxardo cherry brandy
- Ours
- 15ml dark cherry liqueur
Absinthe
- IBA
- 7.5ml, rinsed and discarded
- Ours
- 7.5ml, rinsed and discarded
Method
- IBA
- Stirred until chilled
- Ours
- Stirred 20 to 30 seconds
Glass
- IBA
- Coupe
- Ours
- Chilled coupe
Garnish
- IBA
- Lemon zest
- Ours
- A cherry
UK units
- IBA
- About 3.1
- Ours
- About 3.1
| Element | IBA | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Rye whiskey | 60ml | 60ml |
| Sweet vermouth | 22.5ml | 22.5ml |
| Cherry liqueur | 15ml Luxardo cherry brandy | 15ml dark cherry liqueur |
| Absinthe | 7.5ml, rinsed and discarded | 7.5ml, rinsed and discarded |
| Method | Stirred until chilled | Stirred 20 to 30 seconds |
| Glass | Coupe | Chilled coupe |
| Garnish | Lemon zest | A cherry |
| UK units | About 3.1 | About 3.1 |
For the plain original, see the Manhattan; for rye in an anise-rinsed glass with Peychaud’s bitters, the Sazerac.
How to Serve It
Up, cold, in the rinsed coupe, with a cherry. It belongs to the same hours as a Manhattan, before dinner or after it.
Lemon zest, as the IBA gives it, is the brighter alternative: express it over the surface and the citrus sharpens the anise on the nose.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Rye)Rye whiskey, under the US standard 27 CFR 5.143, takes at least 51% of its grain from rye and its colour from new charred oak, and goes into bottle at a 40% ABV minimum; our recipes take 40% as the figure. Rye makes a drier, spicier, more peppery spirit than corn, which is why stirred classics such as the Manhattan, Vieux Carré and Brooklyn are written for it. It appears in 23 of our recipes.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Remember the Maine refer to?
Cherry Heering or maraschino?
How is it different from a Manhattan?
Why rinse the glass with absinthe rather than stir it in?
Is Remember the Maine an IBA cocktail?
What is a McKinley’s Delight?
How strong is Remember the Maine?
Who created Remember the Maine?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Albert Stevens Crockett (1935), Internet Archive, “Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book” (primary source: McKinley’s Delight, one dash absinthe, two dashes cherry brandy, two-thirds whiskey, one-third Italian vermouth, stirred; the author cannot ascertain the name).
- Punch, “Remember the Maine” (secondary source: described first by Charles H. Baker in his 1939 Gentleman’s Companion; the Maine exploded and sank in 1898, journalists used “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain” as a rallying cry; Baker wrote about the drink in the context of the 1933 Cuban Revolution).
- IBA, “Remember the Maine” (official specification: 60 ml rye whiskey, 22.5 ml sweet vermouth, 15 ml Cherry Brandy Luxardo, 7.5 ml absinthe; absinthe rinse in a coupe; lemon zest).
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Manhattan
The IBA specifies 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, strained into a chilled glass with a cocktail cherry; we stir it over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and serve it in a coupe. That is five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The Oxford Companion says the most commonly told story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club on 29 December 1874, at a testimonial dinner for Samuel J. Tilden, later retold with Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, as host or inspiration, and calls that story simply not true: she had given birth to Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire less than a month earlier. The Companion names O. H. Byron’s Modern Bartenders’ Guide among the bar books that printed the drink in 1884, and we read Byron’s and Charlie Paul’s books of that year in the Internet Archive scans. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. We keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Sazerac
The IBA’s Sazerac is 50ml of cognac stirred with a sugar cube and two dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, then strained, with no ice, into a chilled rocks glass rinsed with absinthe, and finished with lemon zest. About 2.1 UK units. New Orleans more often makes it with rye whiskey. The Sazerac Company’s own history places Aaron Bird at the Sazerac House beside the Merchants Exchange from 1852 and dates the switch to rye to 1885. The Oxford Companion says the Sazerac cocktail was first mentioned in print only in 1899, and that the company’s account, which follows the historian Stanley Clisby Arthur, is undercut by numerous errors. The absinthe never goes into the mixing glass. It coats the glass and is poured away, leaving anise on the nose of every sip.
Vieux Carré
A Vieux Carré is 30ml each of rye whiskey, cognac and sweet vermouth, with 5ml of Bénédictine and two dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over a large cube in a rocks glass, with lemon peel expressed over the top. About 3.1 UK units. Those are the IBA’s ingredients. The IBA serves it up, in a cocktail glass, finished with orange zest and a cherry; we keep the lemon peel of the recipe Stanley Clisby Arthur printed in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, which Difford’s Guide dates to 1938, and serve it over ice. Difford’s Guide reproduces Arthur’s entry, in which Walter Bergeron, head bartender of the Hotel Monteleone cocktail lounge in New Orleans, says he originated the drink in honour of the Vieux Carré. Difford’s Guide dates it to 1938. Vieux carré means old square: the French Quarter, where the hotel stands.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026