As a baseline, here’s the AI-generated image from two years ago, created with DALL-E 3.

The original DALL-E 3 photo looks kind of crazy when you look back. I would never garnish a drink with a grapefruit wedge; it would have been a peel.

To remind you of the cocktail recipe for The Merry Manhattan:

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The Merry Manhattan

Recipe by Hans Scharler

Prep time

5

minutes

The Merry Manhattan is a festive twist on the classic Manhattan cocktail, perfect for holiday celebrations. This elegant drink features a rich amber hue, achieved by blending rye whiskey with sweet vermouth. The traditional flavor is enhanced with a unique addition of smoked cherries, adding a subtle, smoky sweetness. A sprig of rosemary infuses the cocktail with a fragrant, herbaceous aroma, invoking the essence of winter. The drink is served in a rocks glass containing a large ice chunk. The finishing touch is a gracefully twisted grapefruit peel, adding a citrusy zing and completing the cocktail’s holiday charm.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth

• 2 oz Whistle Pig Rye Whiskey

• 2 dashes Sour Cherry Bitters

• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

• Fresh cherries (for smoking)

• Fresh rosemary (for smoking)

• Grapefruit peel (for garnish)

• Ice

Directions

• Prepare the Smoke:
  Gather a few fresh cherries and a sprig of rosemary.
  Using a kitchen torch, gently torch the rosemary and cherries until they start to smoke. Be careful not to burn them.
  Immediately cover the smoking rosemary and cherries with a rocks glass to trap the smoke inside. Let it sit for a minute to infuse the glass with the smoky aroma.
• In a mixing glass, combine 1 oz of Vermouth and 2 oz of Rye Whiskey.
• Add two dashes each of Sour Cherry Bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters.
• Fill the mixing glass with ice and stir well to chill and dilute the cocktail.
• Add an ice chunk to the smoked rocks glass.
• Strain the stirred cocktail into the smoked rocks glass.
• Finish and Garnish:
  Take a grapefruit peel and express (squeeze) its oils over the drink.
  Use the grapefruit peel as a garnish.
  Use one of the smoked cherries as a garnish.
  Use the sprig of rosemary as a garnish.

Notes

• Enjoy the smoked cherries as a treat, or save them for a future cocktail garnish.

Here’s the first try with Nano Banna Pro. I gave it the recipe card along with the prompt to create a realistic photo for a Christmas or New Year’s party setting.

I am still not in love with the photos. They are better for sure. Let me try a new approach. I am going to just send a link to the blog post and ask for the photos again.

This time it was much better. I like that it used a fancy cocktail cherry, like a Luxardo cherry, instead of one with a stem.

I found this an interesting way to visualize how a drink can come together. I like inventing my own cocktails for parties. This gives me a way to experiment with the visual presentation.

Now, Nano Banana Pro has way more capability than DALL-E 3 had, so I can do more things. I can make process diagrams for the recipe card. Let’s try that.

Now, we are talking.

A few takeaways:

• Models are improving rapidly.
• You can do something new with Generative AI models.
• And, the power of AND. I started with a photo, then pivoted to a recipe card diagram. I could keep anding. I could make it a YouTube video script. I could make it a series of cocktails. This is the most critical takeaway for 2026. It is not just about doing one thing more efficiently; it is about doing more things than you could before.

Buckle up. You might need a drink in 2026.