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Manhattan (cocktail)

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Manhattan
IBA official cocktail
A classic 2:1 Manhattan, made with Canadian whisky, sweet vermouth, bitters, and a cherry
TypeCocktail
Base spirit
ServedStraight up: chilled, without ice
Standard garnishcherry
Standard drinkware
Cocktail glass
IBA specified
ingredients†
PreparationStirred over ice, strained into a chilled glass, garnished, and served straight up.

A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Commonly used whiskeys include rye (the traditional choice), Canadian whisky(simply called Rye in Canada), bourbon, blended whiskey and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is often stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass, where it is garnished with a Maraschino cherry with a stem.[1][2] A Manhattan is also frequently served on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass (lowball glass).

Origin and history

A popular history suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s, where it was invented by Dr. Iain Marshall for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mother) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, later prompting several people to request the drink by referring to the name of the club where it originated—"the Manhattan cocktail."[3][4] However, Lady Randolph was in France at the time and pregnant, so the story is likely a fiction.[5] The original "Manhattan cocktail" was a mix of "American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura bitters".[6][7]

However, there are prior references to various similar cocktail recipes called "Manhattan" and served in the Manhattan area.[4] By one account it was invented in the 1860s by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street.[8]

An early record of the cocktail can be found in William Schmidt's "The Flowing Bowl", published in 1891. In it, he details a drink containing 2 dashes of gum, 2 dashes of bitters, 1 dash of absinthe, 2/3 portion of whiskey and 1/3 portion of vermouth.

One urban legend suggests that the drink was named "manhattan" after the city's sewage and water system, which ran brown at the time.

Traditions

The Manhattan is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.[8] Since World War II they are the traditional cocktail of merchant, yachting, and Coast Guard Auxiliary commodores.[9]

On the small North Frisian island of Föhr, the Manhattan cocktail is a standard drink at almost every cafe restaurant, and 'get together' of locals.[10] The story goes, that many of the people of Föhr emigrated to Manhattan during deep sea fishing trips, took a liking to the drink, and brought it back to Föhr with them. The drink is usually mixed 1 part (the 'perfect' is said to be half white/half red) vermouth to 2 parts whiskey, with a dash of bitters, served ice cold, in an ice cold glass, or with ice and a cherry garnish.

Variations

A Manhattan.

The Manhattan is subject to considerable variation and innovation, and is often a way for the best bartenders to show off their creativity.[8] Some shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker instead of stirring it, creating a froth on the surface of the drink. Angostura are the classic bitters, but orange bitters, Peychaud's Bitters, and others may be used; using Fernet-Branca yields what is called a Fanciulli cocktail.[11] Some make their own bitters and syrups, substitute comparable digestifs in place of vermouth, specialize in local or rare whiskeys, or use other exotic ingredients.[8] A lemon peel may be used as garnish. Some add juice from the cherry jar or Maraschino liqueur to the cocktail for additional sweetness and color.

Originally, bitters were considered an integral part of any cocktail, as the ingredient that differentiated a cocktail from a sling.[12] Over time, those definitions of cocktail and sling have become archaic, as sling has fallen out of general use (other than in certain drink names), and cocktail can mean any drink that resembles a martini, or simply any mixed drink.

The following are other variations on the classic Manhattan:

  • A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky.[8]
  • A Dry Manhattan is made with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth and served with a twist.[8] Dry Manhattans were popularized by Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.[citation needed]
  • A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.[8]
  • A Brandy Manhattan is made with brandy rather than rye.[13]
  • A Ruby Manhattan is made with port rather than vermouth.[14]
  • A Metropolitan is similar to a brandy manhattan, but with a 3-to-1 ratio of cognac or brandy to vermouth.[13]
  • A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient.[15]
  • A Latin Manhattan is made with equal parts of white rum, sweet and dry vermouth, and a splash of Maraschino cherry juice, served up with a twist.
  • A Royal Manhattan is made with Crown Royal Canadian Whisky.[15]

The cocktail has been referenced prominently in numerous films and television shows. Manhattans, along with cosmopolitans, were frequently consumed on the HBO television series Sex and the City.[16] On the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, Karen Walker is also known to drink Manhattans.[17] Along with Port wine, Manhattans frequent many Jack Kerouac novels, such as Big Sur, On The Road and The Subterraneans.[citation needed] In the film Some Like It Hot, set during Prohibition, Marilyn Monroe's character, Sugar Cane, makes Manhattans in a hot water bottle.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Recipe for a Manhattan Cocktail from about.com
  2. ^ http://mybestcocktails.com/recipe-21-Manhattan.html Recipe for a classic Manhattan Cocktail
  3. ^ Holiday Cocktail Party from CocktailTimes.com
  4. ^ a b "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner". Buckeye Tavern. 15 March 1945. pg. 6, col. 2. qtd. in "Moscow Mule; Molotov Cocktail; Manhattan Cocktail". The Linguist List. American Dialect Society. 28 October 2000. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  5. ^ Winston Churchill, My Early Life
  6. ^ Bonisteel, Sara (22 May 2006). "Tipplers Toast the Cocktail on Its 200th 'Anniversary'". FOXNews.com. Fox News Network. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  7. ^ "Manhattan". Cocktail Times. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Regan, Gary (September 21, 2007). "The Manhattan project: A bartender spills his secrets on the king of cocktails". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ Essen und Trinken from Föhr-Digital.de
  11. ^ Felten, Eric (January 3, 2009). "Making Bitter Fernet-Branca Much Easier to Swallow". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  12. ^ Levin, Steve (May 12, 2006). "The Origin of Cocktails". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  13. ^ a b Felten, Eric (September 8, 2007). "In a League of Their Own: The Ivy League, That Is". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  14. ^ ""Ruby Manhattam"". Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  15. ^ a b "Manhattan". Great Cocktails. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  16. ^ Travel Article 26 - Island Travel from bellaonline.com/
  17. ^ http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/willandgrace/season2/willandgrace-216.htm
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