Manhattan Cocktail: Your New Favorite Classic Cocktail
As you all know by now, my favorite cocktail is a Rye Manhattan served up. So I thought it was time I fill you in on the details of the delicious Manhattan cocktail. I’ll cover history, ingredients, preparation, glassware and some variations. (Feel free to jump to my Manhattan cocktail recipe at the end if you want to enjoy one while you read.)
Photo credit: All photos by Zachera Photo.
History of the Manhattan Cocktail
The origin of the Manhattan cocktail is a bit murky. The most common story is that it was invented in New York City’s Manhattan Club around 1880, hence the name Manhattan. It’s unclear if this is completely true as many want to take credit for so successful a cocktail, but it’s close enough for our purposes.
Unlike other cocktails that have changed over time, this recipe is essentially unchanged (though everyone likes to put their spin on it, myself included). Then, as now, it calls for rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and aromatic bitters.
Coincidentally or not, the rule of thumb proportions are 2-1-2 (2 oz rye, 1 oz vermouth, 2 dashes bitters), which is the area code for Manhattan. This certainly makes it easy to remember but I’m not sure Bell Labs and AT&T were thinking about this in the 1940s when they developed area codes. Or maybe they were … either way, it will help you remember how much of each ingredient you need for a by-the-book Manhattan cocktail.
Manhattan Cocktail Ingredients
The ingredients in a Manhattan cocktail are simple: rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, aromatic bitters, and, of course, a cherry garnish. This simplicity means it’s important to pick high quality ingredients. Let’s jump in on each ingredient.
Rye Whiskey
Yes, I firmly believe a Manhattan cocktail should be made with rye. You can use any whiskey you like, but I find that nothing beats rye in this cocktail. Rye is a spicier whiskey which produces a bold, nuanced cocktail that holds my attention and asks to be savored sip after sip.
The most common substitute is bourbon. I find Bourbon Manhattans too sweet and mellow, which may be exactly what you’re looking for, but lacks a little pizzazz for my taste buds. I encourage you to try it both ways and drink it whichever way you prefer.
If you are going the rye route, here are five great options:
- Hudson Whiskey Manhattan Rye – I LOVE this rye. It’s a splurge but it’s so good.
- FEW Spirits Rye – This Chicago girl loves all FEW products, but their rye is my favorite in their lineup. They blend rye and corn to add a note of corn sweetness to the rye spice. (Stay tuned for an upcoming post on my tour of their distillery.)
- Koval Rye – Koval is another local Chicago distillery that is turning out delicious whiskies. This one is 100% rye with a nice spicy finish.
- Journeyman Distillery Last Feather Rye – This is a rye and wheat blend that is a bit on the sweeter side, but not too sweet.
- Bulleit Rye – Bulleit makes a nice, spicy rye that’s a full 95% rye. Bulleit Rye is my workhorse rye. I always keep a bottle around because it’s such a good value, and it’s delicious. Bulleit is a prime example of not needing to spend a lot to get a great product.
Sweet Vermouth
The sweet vermouth adds, you guessed it, a little sweetness to your Manhattan cocktail. It also adds some light spice and herbal notes.
A few words of advice:
- Splurge on the highest quality sweet vermouth you can. I like Antica Formula or Punt e Mes.
- Keep it in the fridge once it’s open. (It’s fortified and aromatized wine so it will go bad if you leave it at room temp.)
I also recommend experimenting with how much sweet vermouth you like in your Manhattan cocktail. The classic version calls for an ounce. However, I find that half an ounce is perfect for me. That’s enough to get the flavor of the sweet vermouth, but not so much that it overshadows the flavor of the rye.
Aromatic Bitters
You can theoretically use any type of aromatic bitters you like, but I recommend you stick with Angostura bitters. They balance and enhance the other elements of the drink.
It has recently become trendy to add orange bitters or walnut bitters instead of or in addition to the Angostura bitters. I don’t find either of these bitters to blend as seamlessly with the other ingredients in the Manhattan cocktail, so I avoid using them. This is a case where the original is the best.
Cherries
Drinks aren’t as fun without a garnish, and a Manhattan cocktail is no exception. As with the sweet vermouth, you’ll want to splurge on the best cherries you can. And please, please avoid the bright red cherries you grew up putting on sundaes. Those imitation maraschino cherries are full of sugar and dye.
My latest obsession is Jack Rudy Cocktail Co Bourbon Cocktail Cherries. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co soaks Oregon cherries in a Kentucky bourbon mixture to make plump, delicious and slightly boozy cherries.
If you want to use exactly what the top cocktail bars are using, look for Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries. These are candied cherries soaked in Luxardo marasca cherry syrup. You’ll find these cherries wonderfully decadent and a little crisp when you bite into them.
Manhattan Cocktail Preparation
The Manhattan is easy to prepare, which is probably part of the reason why it’s my favorite cocktail. I love making more involved drinks too, but there’s nothing better than coming home after a long day and quickly making a Manhattan cocktail.
Step 1
Pull together your ingredients and bar tools. If you like your glass extra cold you can add some ice and water to it at this point to chill it down. Good cocktail bars keep their up glasses in the refrigerator so you’re guaranteed a cold glass, but I don’t worry about chilling my glass at home.
Step 2
Add your ingredients and ice to your mixing glass. I like to use a glass cocktail ‘beaker’ (this one from Crate & Barrel to be exact) for my stirred cocktails. And, yes, this is a stirred cocktail. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. These ingredients are of similar weight and are low viscosity so they combine easily. You’re mostly using the stirring motion to chill them.
If you shake this cocktail, you’ll end up with a cloudy Manhattan. It will eventually settle but why wait for that? Simply stir with a bar spoon instead. Note that most boozy cocktails (Manhattan, Martini, Old Fashioned, Negroni, etc.) are stirred. You only want to shake your cocktails when there is an ingredient that won’t combine otherwise. For instance, you should shake cocktails with egg whites to froth up the whites or with honey because honey is very viscous and won’t combine otherwise. Cocktails with citrus are also normally shaken.
One other note here, you’ll notice that good cocktail bars usually add the ingredients then the ice. The order of operation doesn’t much matter when you make it at home. They do it this way because they don’t want the ice to spend too much time in the glass diluting the liquor if they get called away in the middle of making your cocktail. You won’t have this problem at home. You may also notice that they tend to add the most expensive ingredient last. This is so if they make a mistake measuring early on they aren’t pouring the expensive stuff down the drain.
Step 3
Give your ingredients and ice a good stir. You want to make sure your Manhattan cocktail is nice and chilled. If you can, you’ll want to stir around the outside of the mixing glass using a push-pull motion to move the bar spoon. This motion results in a gentle stir that disturbs the ice as little as possible, resulting in a chilled but minimally diluted drink.
Step 4
Dump the water and ice if you added it to your glass to chill it. Then strain your Manhattan cocktail into your glass. You can use any strainer you have on hand. I prefer a Julep strainer for my boozy cocktails. All you’re doing here is making sure the ice doesn’t get into your glass. And Julep strainers are simple and easy to clean.
Step 5
Add your cherry garnish. I often add my cherry to the glass prior to pouring my Manhattan, but the traditional order of operation is to add it last.
Step 6
Enjoy!
Glassware
You can use any kind of up glass for your Manhattan cocktail. Coupes have roared back into fashion at cocktail bars around the country so that’s likely what they’ll serve it in. Restaurants tend to stock fewer types of glassware, so they’ll probably serve it to you in a martini glass.
My personal favorite, however, is the Nick & Nora glass. I love this glass for a few reasons. (1) The shape is beautiful. (2) The glass tends to be around 8 ounces (smaller than a typical martini glass) which is the perfect size for an up cocktail. I prefer for my glass to look full when first poured. (3) Nick & Nora glasses are easy to store since their shape takes up less room than a coupe or martini glass.
I own this version from Crate & Barrel and I use it all the time. I’ve even started gifting it to others and it always becomes their go-to cocktail glass as well.
Manhattan Cocktail Variations
As with all classic cocktails there are a number of Manhattan variations, some close in, some so far out that you begin to wonder how they’re called a variation. Here are a few basic variations:
- Make it sweeter: Add a bar spoon full of cherry juice from your container of cherries to your mixing glass.
- Perfect Manhattan: Use equal parts sweet vermouth and dry vermouth instead of all sweet vermouth. (If you choose to do this, you’ll probably want to do a ½ oz of each, resulting in 1 oz of vermouth total. But you can always play around with just how much you like.) Some garnish this version with a lemon twist. I admit I still like to garnish it with a cherry.
- Dry Manhattan: Use dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth. Garnish with a lemon twist.
- Rob Roy (Scotch Manhattan): Use Scotch whisky instead of rye and sub Peychaud’s bitters for the Angostura bitters. (You can also give Irish whiskey a try. I can confirm that Jameson makes a decent Manhattan cocktail if you’re ever in a pinch.)
Manhattan Cocktail
This cocktail is a classic for a reason. It’s a deliciously boozy combination of rye, sweet vermouth and bitters that’s perfect for savoring.
Servings: 1 │ Glass: Nick & Nora │ Garnish: Cocktail cherry
Ingredients
- 2 oz rye whiskey
- ½ oz sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Instructions
- Add ingredients and ice to mixing glass and stir until well chilled.
- Strain into Nick & Nora glass and garnish with a cocktail cherry.
Do you love Manhattans too? Drop me a note in the comments and let me know how you make yours, and if you have a favorite rye you recommend.