Manhattan
Photo: Billie Grace Ward · CC BY 2.0

History

The Manhattan emerged at New York bars in the 1870s and 1880s, with a Manhattan Club origin story long attached to a Lady Randolph Churchill banquet (the 'Winston's mother' tale that was debunked when historians showed Lady Churchill was in England that month). The classic 2:1 rye-to-sweet-vermouth ratio with Angostura crystallised by the 1900s and the cocktail was codified in Jerry Thomas's later bartender manuals. Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, Death & Co and Attaboy run defensible classical versions; the brandied cherry (not maraschino) is the modern bartender's standard.

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Common allergens: Sulphites

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 15 minTotal 20 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 240ml rye whiskey (Rittenhouse 100, Sazerac 6 or Bulleit Rye)
  • 120ml sweet red vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula, Punt e Mes or Cocchi di Torino)
  • 8 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 4 brandied cocktail cherries (Luxardo or homemade)
  • Plenty of large ice cubes for stirring
  • 4 coupe or martini glasses, chilled
  • Long-handled bar spoon, jigger and Hawthorne strainer
  • Mixing glass (or pitcher)

Method

  1. Chill the coupe glasses in the freezer for 30 minutes. A Manhattan served warm is a wasted drink.
  2. Drop a single brandied cherry into the bottom of each chilled coupe.
  3. Fill a mixing glass two-thirds with large ice cubes. Smaller cubes melt too fast and over-dilute.
  4. Add the rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters to the mixing glass.
  5. Stir gently with a long-handled bar spoon for 25 to 30 seconds. The dilution is part of the drink; not stirring enough gives a hot, sharp cocktail.
  6. The mixing glass should frost on the outside; that is the temperature target.
  7. Strain the cocktail through a Hawthorne strainer into the chilled coupes, dividing evenly.
  8. Express an orange peel over each glass (twist a strip of peel over the surface, then discard or drop in). The oils are part of the aroma.
  9. Serve immediately. A Manhattan should be drunk within 20 minutes; it loses temperature and balance after that.

Tip from the editors. Stir the cocktail, never shake; shaking aerates and clouds it. The brandied cherry (Luxardo) is the modern bartender's standard, not the day-glo maraschino.

Where to eat manhattan

Manhattan in New York City

Katz's Delicatessen ★ 4.9

$$ American DinerLower East Side

Katz's on East Houston has cured, smoked and hand-sliced pastrami in New York City since 1888. The corner-of-the-counter sandwich is the deli's whole point.

OrderHand-cut pastrami on rye, mustard, half-sour pickle.

TipTip the slicer a dollar when you get your ticket; a thick fatty slice samples your way and the sandwich comes built right.

Directions Book

Atomix 2 ★ ★ 4.8

$$$$ Tasting $385KoreanFlatironChef Junghyun Park

Chef Junghyun Park's two-Michelin-star 14-seat NoMad counter runs the most ambitious Korean tasting menu in New York City. Ten courses, $385, set price only.

Book8 weeks ahead

Directions Book

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