Manhattan (cocktail)

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A classic 2:1 Manhattan, made with Canadian whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters, and a cherry

A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Commonly used whiskeys include rye, Canadian, bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. Proportions of whiskey to vermouth vary, from a very sweet 1:1 ratio to a much less sweet 4:1 ratio, but the classic mixture is 2:1. 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] A Manhattan is also frequently served on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass.

The Manhattan has been called a drinking man's cocktail — strong, urbane, and simple — but it has not achieved the recognition of the more widely known martini.[2]

[edit] 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 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 the name of the club where it originated — "the Manhattan cocktail."[3][4]

However, experts in mixology history have found prior references to various similar cocktail recipes called "Manhattan" and served in the Manhattan area. Some of these references date decades prior to the above-mentioned banquet.[5] Nevertheless, the consensus among experts is that the Jerome/Tilden event is what made the recipe of "American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura bitters" famous as the Manhattan cocktail.[6][7]

[edit] Variations

Today bitters are frequently omitted by barmen unless specifically requested; purists, however, maintain that bitters are required to offset the sweetness of the whiskey and vermouth. Some drinkers add juice from the cherry jar or Maraschino liqueur to the cocktail for additional sweetness and color. Some recipes call for substituting orange bitters for the Angostura bitters.

Originally, bitters were considered an integral part of any cocktail, as the ingredient that differentiated a cocktail from a sling.[8] 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.

Using more vermouth and less whiskey to create a milder Manhattan may actually make the drink taste stronger to some drinkers because of the intense flavor of sweet red vermouth.

In Wisconsin and a few surrounding areas, Manhattans are traditionally made with brandy rather than bourbon.

The following are other variations on the classic Manhattan:

• A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky.
• A Dry Manhattan is made with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth and served with a twist.
• A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.
• A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient.
• A Florida Manhattan substitutes a lime slice instead of the cherry and bitters.
• 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.

[edit] In pop culture

Manhattans, along with cosmopolitans, were frequently consumed on the HBO television series, Sex and the City.[9] The cocktail is featured most notably in the final scene of episode 90, where the main characters enjoy several rounds of the cocktail at a trendy bar.[10] The narration by the protagonist explicitly uses the characters' affinity for the Manhattan cocktail as symbolic of their love of life in the Borough of Manhattan.

In the animated television series The Simpsons, in the episode "Bart the Murderer", Bart Simpson is spared by the Springfield mafia by making "superb" Manhattans for them.[11]

[edit] See also

• List of cocktails

[edit] References