BLACK MANHATTAN
Ingredients:
2 oz - Rye Whiskey
1 oz - See the Elephant Amaro
1 dash - Angostura Bitters
1 dash - Orange Bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients in mixing glass filled with ice.
Stir until chilled.
Garnish with an Amarena cherry.
(intro paragraph)
After nearly two decades of visiting Charleston, Kyle Harder finally made Mount Pleasant home in 2022. For someone who has spent much of his career immersed in the spirits world, Charleston’s food, drink, hospitality and culture made it an easy choice.
But it was a trip to southern Italy in 2019 that inspired his latest adventure.
While visiting Ravello, Kyle took his first sip of amaro di rucola, an Italian liqueur made with an ingredient he never expected to find in a spirit: arugula. The flavor was unlike anything he had experienced, with unexpected notes ranging from tropical fruit and dark chocolate to root beer and even bubblegum. He was hooked.
As he learned more, Kyle discovered that arugula-based amaro wasn’t an isolated curiosity. Along Italy’s Cilento Coast, just south of Amalfi, arugula is abundant, and rucola-style amaro has been part of the region’s traditions for generations. Yet the category had virtually no representation in the United States. Kyle saw an opportunity and brought it home.
The result is See the Elephant, a spirit named after an old American expression meaning to venture out into the world and experience something for yourself. Today, Kyle encourages curious drinkers to do exactly that.
See the Elephant can be enjoyed traditionally, neat or over ice as a digestivo, but Kyle’s favorite thing about it is its versatility. And some of his favorite ways to enjoy it are right here in Charleston. At Post House, he’ll order a See the Elephant Espresso Martini; at The Southern, a beer and a shot; and at Obstinate Daughter, oysters, pasta and a See the Elephant Paper Plane. He also recommends the Peel the Burn at Lost Isle, another cocktail featuring the amaro. Prefer to enjoy it at home? See the Elephant is available locally at Bottles.
And there’s another taste of Italy worth seeking out: Vacanza Limoncello, made by the same family in Agropoli, using hand-harvested lemons grown beside their 1,000-year-old farmhouse production facility.
Sometimes discovering something new means traveling halfway around the world. Sometimes it means following a curious local home.