Make Expert-Level Manhattans with Your Sous Vide

Yes, you heard that right. We're cooking cocktails. For starters, making your drinks in a batch ahead of time has to be the easiest way to entertain. But the sous vide method also lets you infuse them with flavor in a matter of hours, not days, even for traditionally tricky ingredients like baking spices.

When deciding when to sous vide a whole cocktail or just the primary spirit, you want to lean towards any cocktail that you might age in a barrel -- stirred, boozy drinks like Negronis, Manhattans, or Boulevardiers. They need to be high in alcohol content, with no squeezed citrus.

When you sous vide the whole cocktail, instead of just one of the ingredients, you're doing more than imparting flavor. You're also rounding out the edge of the spirits and letting the flavors of all the ingredients marry together in a subtle but very effective way. In other words, the Manhattans you sous vide will be much smoother than a regular Manhattan, in the same way an aged wine is smoother than a young wine. The sous vide method speeds up this flavor-melding process considerably.

Don't be intimidated by the equipment -- it's way more simple than it sounds, and surprisingly easy-to-use. This precision cooker from Anova is also pretty to look at (especially when paired with this classically beautiful stockpot from Tuxton Home, with a sous vide port built right into the lid) and takes up hardly any space in your kitchen.

These Mulled Manhattans, bursting with warm cinnamon and peppery spice, are perfect for a chilly fall day, but I also serve them well into the winter. They make a great addition to a holiday table, especially since they're so easy to mix in advance -- just be prepared for demands to make them every year.