Manhattan Cocktail

Classic Manhattan Cocktail

How to make a Manhattan cocktail Preparation time5 min Number of people: 1

Ingredients:

• 22 ml of red vermouth.
• 90 ml of whiskey or Bourbon.
• 7 ml narrow.
• 1 marasquina cherry.
• 1 orange peel.
• Ice.

Utensils:

• cold glasses.
• cocktail shaker

The Manhattan is one of the most popular cocktails, considered by cocktail experts as one of the best cocktails in the world, as it offers an excellent combination of bitter and sweet flavors, something very difficult to achieve in this type of drink. 

The origin of the Manhattan recipe is not at all clear, since there are many theories about its origin and authorship. However, the most widespread and accepted version is the one that ensures that it was created for the first time in the Manhattan Club in New York in 1870, during a banquet organized in honor of the US presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden by Lady Randolph Churchill., mother of Winston Churchill.

The banquet was a complete success and the exquisite cocktail served by Lady Churchill quickly became popular among New York’s high society. As the team did not have a name, people referred to it by the name of the club where the event took place, so it ended up being called “The Manhattan”.

Another theory points out that the origin of the Manhattan drink is much more humble. William F. Mulhall, a bartender who worked at the Hoffman House for more than 30 years, claims that the creation of this cocktail was the work of a certain Black, a bartender at a bar on Broadway in New York.

Originally, the Manhattan was made with a mixture of vermouth and American whiskey or Bourbon. However, in the 1920s, during the days of Prohibition, American whiskey was almost impossible to find, so Canadian rye whiskey was used, which was cheaper and, thanks to mob smuggling, easier. to get.

To make this cocktail, put two ice cubes, the vermouth, the angostura and the whiskey in a cocktail shaker. Stir the mixture gently, since we do not want to shake, but all the ingredients are mixed.

Next, put the cherry in a cold glass, which you can cool in the fridge, and pour the mixture directly from the shaker over it. Give the orange peel a “twist” to release its natural oils, leave it in the mixture for a while and, to finish, take it out and place it on the edge of the glass as a decoration.

Manhattan has many variations, for example the famous Rob Roy, which is made exactly the same, but swapping the American whiskey or Bourbon for Scotch whiskey, which tends to have a more smoky flavor.