Why you are pouring this tonight
The Manhattan is the drink for grown-ups who eat proper dinners. It is strong, it is bitter, it is sweet, and it is about 100 percent spirit. There is no juice, no fizz, no fruit beyond a single cherry. It is closer to a wine pairing than a party drink, which is exactly why it belongs on your table when there is red meat on the plate.
Pour one before dinner when you are braising lamb shoulder in the oven. Pour one with dinner when you are carving a piece of aged rib-eye. Pour one after dinner when there is a small slice of blue cheese and a piece of dark chocolate sitting there looking lonely. The Manhattan does all three jobs, which is a trick very few cocktails can pull off.
If you have never made one, the ratio is dead simple. Two parts whisky, one part sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters, stir. Stir, do not shake. Shaking bruises the drink and clouds it, and a Manhattan should land in the glass clear and glossy like a coin of amber.
What you need
- 60 ml rye whiskey. Rye is the traditional choice and it is spicier and drier than bourbon, which makes the cocktail work. Bulleit Rye at around $70 from Dan Murphy’s is the sweet spot. If all you have is bourbon, Buffalo Trace or Maker’s Mark will still make a lovely drink, just softer and sweeter.
- 30 ml sweet red vermouth. Carpano Antica Formula at around $55 is the pick if you are going to drink Manhattans regularly, it has real depth and vanilla notes that make the drink extraordinary. Cinzano Rosso from Coles works as the everyday option. Keep the vermouth in the fridge once opened, it loses its spark fast.
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Non-negotiable. A small bottle at $18 from the bottle-o lasts years. This is the seasoning that turns two spirits into a cocktail.
- A brandied cherry or a strip of orange peel. Luxardo Maraschino cherries at around $25 a jar from specialty bottle shops are worth every cent. The supermarket neon red cherries are not the same drink. If you cannot find Luxardos, go with an orange peel instead.
- One large ice cube or a chilled coupe. Manhattan served up in a coupe is the classic. On the rocks is acceptable if you want it slightly longer and slower.
How to make it
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Chill your glass. Coupe in the freezer for ten minutes, or rocks glass with ice and water while you build the drink. Cold glass, every time.
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Build in a mixing glass. Measure the rye, vermouth and two dashes of Angostura into a mixing glass or a tall pint glass. Add ice, filling about two thirds.
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Stir. Stir for 25 to 30 seconds with a long bar spoon or the handle of a wooden spoon. You are chilling and diluting. The drink should visibly thicken as it chills. Taste it near the end, it should be softer and more integrated than when you started.
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Strain. Tip the ice water out of your coupe. Strain the drink through a Hawthorne strainer or any fine strainer into the chilled coupe. Or strain over a big ice cube if you are going rocks.
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Garnish. Drop one brandied cherry in. Or, if using orange peel, express the peel over the drink, rub the rim, and drop it in. Serve immediately.
Five dinners that make this drink sing
- Slow-braised lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic. The Manhattan’s spice and depth mirror the braised lamb’s fat and herbs. A glass before dinner to whet the appetite, another during if you are serious.
- Pappardelle with slow-cooked ragu. Rich, slow, meaty, Sunday-afternoon energy. The rye cuts through the fat, the vermouth echoes the wine in the sauce.
- Aged rib-eye with red wine jus. Obvious choice and obvious for a reason. The bitter edge of the Manhattan matches the char on the steak. Order no wine, have this instead.
- A cheese board with blue cheese, walnuts and quince paste. End of dinner, Manhattan in hand. The sweetness in the vermouth plays into the quince, the bitters play into the walnuts, the rye handles the blue.
- Pork belly with apple and fennel. Rich, fatty, slightly sweet. The Manhattan cuts straight through and lifts the whole plate. Worth making pork belly for this pairing alone.
Three small variations worth knowing
The Perfect Manhattan
Use 15 ml sweet vermouth and 15 ml dry vermouth instead of 30 ml sweet. Drier, more complex, a little more subtle. Garnish with a lemon twist instead of a cherry. Excellent before Italian dinners, particularly anything with prosciutto and melon.
The Rob Roy
Swap the rye for a blended Scotch like Johnnie Walker Black or Monkey Shoulder. Smokier, softer, more pastoral. A whole different drink, and a better pairing for dishes with char like a grilled lamb cutlet or a steak with whisky sauce.
The Black Manhattan
Swap the sweet vermouth for Averna or another Italian amaro. Darker, more bitter, with a coffee note that creeps in at the end. Serve this at the end of a long dinner where you would normally reach for a whisky. Perfect alongside a piece of flourless chocolate cake.
Bottles worth buying for this
A Manhattan-ready bar needs three bottles: rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters. Outlay of around $140 if you go Bulleit Rye and Carpano Antica, and those same three bottles get you Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, Boulevardiers and Sazeracs all winter. Buy the Luxardo cherries too, a jar lasts six months in the fridge and makes every drink look like it came out of a hotel bar.
Do not try to save money on the vermouth. Cheap vermouth is the number one reason most home Manhattans taste flat. Carpano Antica or Dolin Rouge is the upgrade. And put it in the fridge the moment you open it.
Bulleit Rye
The Manhattan rye. 95% rye mash bill gives you the cracked-black-pepper and gingerbread spice a proper Manhattan needs. Under $80 and absolutely the no-brainer pick for the drink. Also runs a Sazerac and a Rye Old Fashioned.
Read more →Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth
The heavy, vanilla-and-cocoa sweet vermouth. Carpano turns a Manhattan from ‘whiskey with vermouth in it’ into a Manhattan. Store in the fridge after opening, drink within six weeks. Worth every dollar over cheap Italian vermouth.
Read more →Dolin Rouge Sweet Vermouth
The lighter Manhattan vermouth. Alpine herbs, drier, keeps the rye front and centre. Use Dolin when you want the whiskey to speak more than the vermouth. Both are correct for different moods.
Read more →Angostura Aromatic Bitters
Two dashes. Non-negotiable. Ties the rye and vermouth together and gives the drink the dry cocoa-and-clove backbone that is the Manhattan’s signature. One bottle of Angostura is enough for every cocktail in this collection for a year.
Read more →