Classic Cocktail: Manhattan
2 oz Alberta Rye Whisky Dark Batch
1 oz Miró Vermut de Reus
2 dashes Scrappy’s Aromatic Bitters
Stir everything with ice and strain into a chilled Cocktail glass. Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry.
Since The Manhattan is like a Rye Whiskey Martini without the severity of opinion about how much Vermouth to (not) use, my initial idea when making this was to use the same ratio of Spirit/Vermouth/Bitters as I would a Martini as 2.5 oz/0.5 oz/2 dashes. In the end, though, I went with the most accepted ratio I could find for a Manhattan at 2 oz/1 oz/2 dashes. The balance is lovely with a nice spicy sweetness.
In the world of the Martini there are arguments up and down the boards as to what a Martini is in what ratio. Is a Dry Martini one made with only Dry Vermouth or just LESS Vermouth (or just less Dry Vermouth). I have friends that feel that anything more than a coating of Vermouth on a glass is a capital offence in a Standard Martini, let alone a splash. As far as I know there isn’t quite as much controversy over the Manhattan as there is with the Martini but I could be wrong. Maybe there is something to be found..?
Looking back through a collection of Vintage cocktail books I found some drinks called The Manhattan Cocktail that are vastly different than what we make today…
From the 1906 book How to Mix Drinks by G. Spaulding and W. Rositer it’s made as 1 dash each of Gum Syrup, Orange Bitters, and Curaçao, with equal parts (1/2 wine glass each*) Whiskey and Vermouth. The earliest recipe I could find in print form (though there may be others out there) is from 1895s Official Hand-Book and Guide Bartender’s Association of New York City that has it listed as 2 dashes of Gum Syrup, 3 dashes of Coroni Bitters, with a half pony** of Whiskey and a full pony of Vermouth. Neither of those really resemble what we know as a Manhattan now and others from around that time seem to have similarities to those.
Now I could just post a quote from a site that seems to know what it’s talking about that says “The Manhattan was apparently invented on the island of its name in 1874 at The Manhattan Club. Blah, Blah, Blah… The original recipe called for Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, and a dash or two of Angostura bitters with a maraschino cherry garnish.” and be done with it. However, I recently got a little miffed when looking up the history of egg whites in Whiskey Sours and came across this statement “Fast-forward to a classic egg white cocktail like the Whiskey Sour, which first appeared in Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Guide in 1862 and was basically egg white, simple syrup, lemon juice, and whiskey” that proved wrong when looking for the actually omitted Whiskey Sour in the various editions of Jerry Thomas’ guides. Brandy Sours are mentioned and they are mentioned without egg whites, so, I’m a little hesitant on just posting Google Fu’ed shit as fact.
So this is all I have to go on at the moment with my limited Google Fu and Wikipedia. Perhaps I should read The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail with Recipes to learn more…
*I generally go by the Savoy Stomp measurement that a “Wine Glass” is 2 fluid ounces.
**My understanding is that a “Pony” is 1 fluid ounce though I’m not entirely sure it was back in the 1800s.
