The Emerald
The Emerald is 60ml of Irish whiskey, 30ml of sweet vermouth and three dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a lemon twist expressed and dropped in. About 2.9 UK units. It is the Manhattan with an Irish accent, and it was in print by 1914, when the Internet Archive scan of Jacques Straub’s Drinks lists an Emerald Cocktail of orange bitters, Italian vermouth and Irish whiskey, stirred. VinePair says the same drink also appears as the Rory O’More in Mr. Boston’s Bartending Guide. Two things change from the Manhattan: Irish whiskey for rye, and orange bitters for Angostura. Both swaps soften the drink. Irish whiskey brings orchard fruit where rye brings pepper, and orange bitters lift the peel already in the vermouth where Angostura would add clove and cinnamon. The result is gentler than a Manhattan without turning slack.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist expressed over the surface and dropped in
Ingredients
60ml
At 40% ABV or a little more. Single pot still whiskey brings the weight and green-apple spice to meet the vermouth as an equal; a light blend disappears into it.
30ml
At our working 16% ABV, fresh and kept cold. A good one gives dried fig and gentle spice; a tired one gives cardboard, and no whiskey covers that.
3 dashes
Three dashes. They lift the peel notes already in the vermouth, where Angostura would push the drink back towards clove and the standard Manhattan.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Add the whiskey, vermouth and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Our version
Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and orange bitters as Jacques Straub listed them in Drinks (1914, Internet Archive scan), at our measures: 60ml, 30ml and three dashes, stirred, with a lemon twist.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Chill the coupe while you stir. There is no juice and no sugar in this build, so cold and dilution are the only texture the drink gets, and a warm glass spends both within a minute. Give it 20 to 30 seconds of stirring over plenty of ice. Under-stirred, the vermouth sits on top of the whiskey as a separate sweet layer instead of joining it; stirred far longer, a whiskey at 40% goes thin. Watch the vermouth. At 30ml it is a third of the drink, and a bottle left open on a warm shelf for months tastes of cardboard. We keep it in the fridge once opened and finish it within a month or so.
Behind the The Emerald
Flavour Profile
In Print by 1914
The Emerald was in print by 1914: the Internet Archive scan of Jacques Straub’s Drinks lists an Emerald Cocktail: one dash of orange bitters, Italian vermouth and Irish whiskey, stirred. VinePair says its exact origins are unknown.
VinePair says the drink also appears as the Rory O’More, in Mr. Boston’s Bartending Guide, a name it ties to Sir Rory O’More, one of the four main organizers of the 1641 Irish Rebellion, and calls the Emerald the more commonly used name. The Emerald follows the Manhattan’s logic: if the original honours the island where it was poured, the Irish version takes the island its whiskey comes from.
The Whiskey Question
The Emerald wants a whiskey with some weight. Single pot still brings it, with a green-apple spice that meets the vermouth as an equal. Failing that, a robust blend that leads with orchard fruit rather than caramel does the job. A light, shy whiskey simply vanishes behind the vermouth.
Vermouth and Orange
Thirty millilitres of sweet vermouth is a third of the drink, so its freshness matters as much as the whiskey’s. A bottle kept cold brings dried fig and gentle spice to the middle of the glass.
The orange bitters are the hinge between the two halves. Angostura would steer the glass towards a standard Manhattan’s clove and cinnamon. Orange picks up the peel notes already in the vermouth and hands them forward to the whiskey’s citrus edge, which is why three dashes read as brightness rather than bitterness.
The Family Tree
The Emerald beside our Manhattan, Rob Roy and Tipperary
Whiskey
- The Emerald
- 60ml Irish
- Manhattan
- 50ml rye
- Rob Roy
- 60ml Scotch
- Tipperary
- 50ml Irish
Sweet vermouth
- The Emerald
- 30ml
- Manhattan
- 20ml
- Rob Roy
- 30ml
- Tipperary
- 25ml
Bitters
- The Emerald
- Three dashes orange
- Manhattan
- One dash Angostura
- Rob Roy
- Two dashes Angostura
- Tipperary
- Two dashes Angostura
Fourth ingredient
- The Emerald
- None
- Manhattan
- None
- Rob Roy
- None
- Tipperary
- 15ml green Chartreuse
Garnish
- The Emerald
- Lemon twist
- Manhattan
- Cocktail cherry
- Rob Roy
- Cherry or lemon peel
- Tipperary
- Lemon twist
UK units
- The Emerald
- About 2.9
- Manhattan
- About 2.3
- Rob Roy
- About 2.9
- Tipperary
- About 3.3
| Element | The Emerald | Manhattan | Rob Roy | Tipperary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiskey | 60ml Irish | 50ml rye | 60ml Scotch | 50ml Irish |
| Sweet vermouth | 30ml | 20ml | 30ml | 25ml |
| Bitters | Three dashes orange | One dash Angostura | Two dashes Angostura | Two dashes Angostura |
| Fourth ingredient | None | None | None | 15ml green Chartreuse |
| Garnish | Lemon twist | Cocktail cherry | Cherry or lemon peel | Lemon twist |
| UK units | About 2.9 | About 2.3 | About 2.9 | About 3.3 |
Scotch in the same frame makes a Rob Roy, the Emerald’s nearest cousin and identical to it in measure. The Tipperary stays with Irish whiskey and adds green Chartreuse, which turns the drink herbal and stronger.
The Emerald is the conservative branch: one whiskey swap, one bitters swap, nothing else changed. That restraint is why it reads at once as a Manhattan, and why the whiskey’s character comes through so clearly.
How to Serve It
Stirred over plenty of ice, strained into a chilled coupe, with a lemon twist expressed over the surface and dropped in.
It gets an outing every March for the obvious reason, but it is a fireside drink at heart, at home after dinner wherever a Manhattan would be.
For rye and Angostura, make a Manhattan; for Irish whiskey with green Chartreuse, a Tipperary.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Irish)Irish whiskey is whiskey distilled on the island of Ireland and aged there in wood for three years or longer, and bottled at no less than 40% ABV. The Irish Whiskey technical file names four types, pot still, malt, grain and blended, and the soft blends are what our nine Irish recipes mostly use. The Irish Whiskey technical file calls triple distillation the traditional practice, not a rule, and specifies unpeated malt only for pot still whiskey.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an Emerald and a Manhattan?
Which Irish whiskey works best?
Can I use Angostura instead of orange bitters?
How long should I stir an Emerald?
Why is it called the Emerald?
Who created the Emerald?
How strong is an Emerald?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Jacques Straub (1914), Internet Archive, “Drinks” (primary source: Emerald Cocktail. 1 dash orange bitters, Italian vermouth, Irish whiskey. Stir.).
- VinePair, “The Story Behind The Emerald” (secondary source (Pete O’Connell): exact origins unknown; appears as the Emerald in Straub’s Drinks (1914) and as the Rory O’More in Mr. Boston’s Bartending Guide; Sir Rory O’More, one of the four main organizers of the 1641 Irish Rebellion; the Emerald the more commonly used name).
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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.
Rob Roy
A Rob Roy is 60ml of Scotch whisky, 30ml of sweet vermouth and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cherry or a strip of lemon peel. About 2.9 UK units. It is the Manhattan’s Scotch relation. The Oxford Companion says there are several claims to its creation, the most creditable a letter of 1941 describing how the bartender Henry August Orphal made it at Duke’s House in Hoboken, New Jersey, for a salesman of the newly introduced Usher’s blended Scotch, and that it was in circulation by the end of 1895 and most likely named after the popular Broadway show of the time. The choice of Scotch decides the drink. A good blend gives a steady, rounded Rob Roy; a Highland or Speyside malt adds fruit and honey; a heavily peated Islay takes over the glass. If the vermouth and the whisky fight, split the vermouth into 15ml sweet and 15ml dry for a Perfect Rob Roy.
Tipperary
The Tipperary is 50ml of Irish whiskey, 25ml of sweet vermouth, 15ml of green Chartreuse and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, with a lemon twist. About 3.3 UK units. Those are the IBA’s measures. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, dates the Tipperary to Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916, with equal parts whiskey, Chartreuse and vermouth. That is a far louder drink. The modern measures, which Difford’s traces to Harry MacElhone’s 1922 recipe, pull the Chartreuse back so it seasons the whiskey rather than leading it. Irish whiskey is usually cast as the gentle spirit. Here it stands up to a liqueur bottled at 55% ABV on Chartreuse’s product page, and a single pot still whiskey, with more weight and pepper, holds its own best.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026