Manhattan
Prep time:
Older than the Martini and, for many, better. Rye whiskey and sweet vermouth in a ratio that forgives nothing: an after-dinner drink, meant to be sipped slowly.
Ingredients
- 60 ml rye whiskey
- 30 ml sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Ice for stirring
Preparation
- Chill the glass while you build the drink.
- In a mixing glass, combine the whiskey, vermouth and bitters with ice.
- Stir for 30 seconds: you want it cold with only about 20% dilution, and no aeration.
- Strain into the chilled glass and add the cherry.
Bartender’s notes
Shaken or stirred?
Stirred, always. Shaking fills it with air bubbles and leaves it cloudy, and a Manhattan is served clear. The general rule applies here without exception: shake what has citrus, egg or cream, stir what is all spirit.
Up or on the rocks?
There is less dogma here than you would think. The classic version is strained into a coupe with no ice — what you order at a bar as “up” — and that is how it arrives most concentrated and coldest through the first third. Serving it over one large cube in a rocks glass is just as legitimate: it dilutes slowly and stays cold far longer, which for a drink you sip is no small advantage.
Manhattan twists
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