{"id":72128,"date":"2025-12-16T12:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/72128\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T12:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:30:09","slug":"sip-guzzle-and-esquire-collaborate-on-a-limited-edition-manhattan-cocktail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/72128\/","title":{"rendered":"Sip & Guzzle and Esquire Collaborate on a Limited-Edition Manhattan Cocktail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want Esquire\u2019s blend of wit, authenticity, and entertainment in a delicious, consumable form? We\u2019re known for award-winning journalism<\/a>, impeccably styled fashion spreads<\/a>, and literary excellence, but we wanted to push our limits even further. In an increasingly hands-free, digitalized world, we want to connect with everyone who reads Esquire in a real, physically engaging way. And what better way than to walk into a bar with likeminded individuals and share a cocktail? In his novel The Damned and The Beautiful, Esquire contributor F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, \u201cHere\u2019s to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.\u201d With that endorsement in mind, we set out to create a cocktail that tastes just like the experience of reading the magazine\u2014exclusive, fun, and just plain enjoyable.<\/p>\n

We reached out to Sip & Guzzle<\/a>, one of the best bars we know, to make it happen. At the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, the Sip & Guzzle team won the title of Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar. It\u2019s also the 39th best bar in the entire world<\/a> as ranked by The World\u2019s 50 Best list. But accolades aside, it\u2019s just a damn good spot to grab a drink in Greenwich Village in Manhattan\u2014if you can get a seat, that is.<\/p>\n

\"barEric Medsker<\/p>\n

Shingo Gokan, Steven Schneider, and Justin Weitz outside Sip & Guzzle.<\/p>\n

Sip & Guzzle is the creative brainchild of veteran bartenders Steve Schneider and Shingo Gokan, operated with co-owner and partner Justin Weitz. \u201cShingo\u2019s been a friend of mine for a long time,\u201d Schneider tells me. \u201cWe both moved to Asia over 10 years ago, and we opened a bar together in Shanghai seven years ago called The Odd Couple.\u201d That bar, their first venture together, set the rubric for what was to come: a blend of different cultures and cocktail styles under one roof. Sip & Guzzle is the latest product of their longtime friendship and collaboration. Knowing all that, they were the perfect team to help us make Esquire come to life in the form of a cocktail.<\/p>\n

Sip & Guzzle is actually two bars split into two levels. Schneider heads up Guzzle, the ground floor bar, that features creative but approachable cocktails, hence a name that encourages patrons to take hearty gulps. Gokan reigns over Sip, the downstairs bar that\u2019s designed to look like a hidden-alley izakaya with sliding paneled doors that open up to seated-only service. Sip\u2019s mysterious and enigmatic menu offers drinks with flavors you might never have imagined going together, like the Dirty Mango, a dirty martini made with tropical mango.<\/p>\n

\"bar\"Eric Medsker<\/p>\n

The Guzzle section of Sip & Guzzle, where the Esquire Manhattan will be available. <\/p>\n

Schneider and Gokan took our offer as an opportunity to flex their mixology muscles. We wanted something that represented our magazine\u2014something iconic and recognizable with an unexpected modern twist. It felt like a natural fit to have Schneider mix it up at Guzzle.\u201cGuzzle is about comfort drinks and flavors you love,\u201d Schneider says. \u201cIt\u2019s really fun just to think of riffs on classics.\u201d
<\/p>\n

After numerous experimental taste tests\u2014which was probably the highlight of my job to try\u2014the Esquire Manhattan was born. \u201cWe\u2019re in New York, where the Manhattan is king,\u201d Schneider says. \u201cIt\u2019s also the Big Apple, so I thought, apple Manhattan.\u201d <\/p>\n

He selected his favorite rye whiskey to have in a Manhattan, Rittenhouse Rye, and Calvados, a delectable apple brandy from Normandy to create the base of the cocktail. From there, the flavors take a turn. Schneider introduced the concept of a bacon aromatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding the bacon to it was about creating comforting flavors. If you\u2019ve ever had a pork chop and applesauce, it\u2019s delicious,\u201d Schneider says. \u201cAnd apples pair well with whiskey. It\u2019s like a Holy Trinity there.\u201d The bacon soaks in Calvados for a few hours, and then the liquid is strained into an atomizer that\u2019s sprayed over the surface of the cocktail for just a hint of savory richness on the nose. You can also order it without if you\u2019re not friendly with bacon. When I sampled the drink last month, I knew immediately that it was the one.<\/p>\n

\"cocktailEric Medsker<\/p>\n

Introducing the Esquire Manhattan.<\/p>\n

The collaboration was a full circle moment for Weitz and Schneider. \u201cEsquire is a magazine that I read. It\u2019s a brand that New Yorkers trust, and people all around the world trust,\u201d co-owner Justin Weitz says. \u201cJustin and I are in our 40s now, but I remember being my 20s and reading Esquire. It taught me how to dress,\u201d Schneider says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEsquire interviewed me back in 2011, when I was working at Employees Only,\u201d Schneider says. The interview was a quick and punchy rundown of Schneider\u2019s words of wisdom<\/a>. \u201cI was 27 years old, and it blew up when Facebook was at its height. It went viral, which I\u2019d never experienced before. [Esquire was] also early on including Employees Only in a round up of best bars.\u201d <\/p>\n

We\u2019re not saying that every media outlet should stumble over themselves to create their own cocktails with one of the 50 best bars in the entire world. (Or are we?) But we know for sure that the Esquire Manhattan is out now, and you can throw it back starting today through January 31, 2026, at Sip & Guzzle. But only if you want to know what it\u2019s like to have your finger on the pulse. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want Esquire\u2019s blend of wit, authenticity, and entertainment in a delicious, consumable form? We\u2019re known for award-winning journalism,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[567,36752,569,568,75,84,83,9,24,63,36751],"class_list":{"0":"post-72128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-72eda100-287f-40af-8c56-59fb46bed71e","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-locale-us","12":"tag-manhattan","13":"tag-manhattan-headlines","14":"tag-manhattan-news","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-shorttitle-we-helped-craft-the-best-new-cocktail-in-new-york"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}