Manhattan Project

[alacarte]

If you haven't already seen this essay from the LA Times Magazine on the Mahattan, I recommend it. It's extremely well-written and I learned a lot about the cocktail to boot.

Make Mine a Manhattan

[slkinsey]

A man after my own heart! The Manhattan really is the King of Cocktails in my book. And I agree that it's best with orange bitters.

My standard is Maker's Mark with Vya Sweet Vermouth at around 3:1, but it's also very good with rye whiskey, or even with Tenneseee whiskey.

[LEdlund]

What a fantastic article, it brought tears to my eyes reading about his father.

Manhattan's are my husband's standard cocktail and are becoming one of my favorites as well. We mostly use rye and, if not, Makers Mark. I just bought some Vya sweet vermouth when we were in California last week (haven't found it in Seattle yet) and I'm looking forward to trying that. And orange bitters have become the standard as well.

We're still stuggling with the cherry so if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Regular maraschino's are too sweet. We've tried a brand from Williams Sonoma but they are soooo expensive. Tipsy cherries are pretty good. I tried canned sour cherries (replacing the liquid with Maraschino liquor) but they are too mushy. The quest continues.....

[schaem]

BLT Steak in New York uses Woodford for their house Manhattan, and uses bourbon-soaked cherries instead of maraschino. However, they also carry two brands of real rye whiskey, for those who like it old school (I can't do maraschinos, so I get it with a twist).

[JAZ]

We're still stuggling with the cherry so if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Regular maraschino's are too sweet. We've tried a brand from Williams Sonoma but they are soooo expensive. Tipsy cherries are pretty good. I tried canned sour cherries (replacing the liquid with Maraschino liquor) but they are too mushy. The quest continues.....

Have you tried the wild Italian cherries? They're not cheap, but they're worth it, in my opinion. I've gotten a couple of brands; I prefer Amarena Fabbri (amarena is the name of the cherry; Fabbri is the brand). Before I tried them the first time, I always specified no cherries in my drinks; afterward, I found myself trying new drinks just because they were garnished with these little gems.

[Splificator]

Great article--particularly the stuff about the author's dad and shaking the bowling-alley Manhattan. It does, however, bring up a pet peeve (as did R. W. Apple's NY Times rye article a few weeks back) when it repeats the story of the Manhattan being invented for a dinner at the Manhattan Club hosted by Jennie Jerome to celebrate Samuel Tilden's election etc. etc. About 5 minutes of half-assed googling will uncover the fact that Tilden was elected in November, 1874, when La Jerome was in England, giving birth to Winston Churchill. (In fact, the banquet was held on the day Winston was christened; Jenny Jerome's only connection with the Manhattan club was the fact that the club later moved into a mansion which had once belonged to her father).

This kind of thing comes up in drink articles with numbing regularity, even ones by otherwise excellent writers such as Apple. It's as if they view the very act of writing about a cocktail as exempting them from their usual standards of research and accuracy. After all, it's just a cocktail.

[Suzanne F]

I recently had a "Manhattan" made with Woodford, Triple Sec, and sweet vermouth, garnished with a twist of lemon. Now you see why I put that in quotes.

[slkinsey]

I recently had a "Manhattan" made with Woodford, Triple Sec, and sweet vermouth, garnished with a twist of lemon. Now you see why I put that in quotes.

Put in some lemon juice and you'd probably have a pretty good-tasting New Orleans Sour, but it's sure not a Manhattan.

As to the cherry question posed by others above... I've always preferred an orange twist myself. To me, the cherry only makes sense if the drink's going to be sweeter than I prefer it.

[coolranch]

That is a great article. I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

My husband's father always gave him the cherry from his drink.

I had a great take on the Manhattan made with Wild Turkey Rare Breed and sherry instead of vermouth.

[Marlene]

That is a great article. I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

My husband's father always gave him the cherry from his drink.

I had a great take on the Manhattan made with Wild Turkey Rare Breed and sherry instead of vermouth.

I got my love of them from my mother. Every night, mom and dad's ritual was to sit down when he got home from work and have two drinks before dinner. During this time, kids were not allowed in the living room

My mother always had a Manhatten, and today whenever she visits us, it's still her drink of choice.

We normally make it with Rye Wiskey, but I'm going to ask hubby to try one with Maker's Mark since we have some of that in the house!

[JAZ]

As to the cherry question posed by others above... I've always preferred an orange twist myself. To me, the cherry only makes sense if the drink's going to be sweeter than I prefer it.

I agree about the sweetness level, but I tend to drink rye Manhattans, and generally perfect ones at that, so for me the cherry adds just the right amount of sweetness. But only those Italian cherries. Otherwise, I go for a twist.

[bigbear]

.....

I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

.....

Bingo..... That's my story. They were usually made with blended, Canadian whiskey, but I like Maker's Mark wheated bourbon. A bourbon drinker of some renown told me that if I liked MM manhattans, I'd love them made with Blanton's. Haven't tried one yet.

[trillium]

I recently had a "Manhattan" made with Woodford, Triple Sec, and sweet vermouth, garnished with a twist of lemon. Now you see why I put that in quotes. 

Put in some lemon juice and you'd probably have a pretty good-tasting New Orleans Sour, but it's sure not a Manhattan.

As to the cherry question posed by others above... I've always preferred an orange twist myself. To me, the cherry only makes sense if the drink's going to be sweeter than I prefer it.

Pretty soon you won't be able to order a Manhattan and actually get one...just like martinis! Sometimes I wonder why people bother giving something specific a proper name at all....

regards,

trillium

[beans]

Pretty soon you won't be able to order a Manhattan and actually get one...just like martinis! Sometimes I wonder why people bother giving something specific a proper name at all....

regards,

trillium

[littlebear]

.....

I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

.....

Bingo..... That's my story.

Would it be inappropriate for me to toast Dad and Gramps here?

[bigbear]

.....

I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

.....

Bingo..... That's my story.

Would it be inappropriate for me to toast Dad and Gramps here?

Here's looking up your azimuth.

[lancastermike]

it remains my opinion that a Manhattan made with bourbon and equal parts sweet and dry vermouth with a lemon or orange twist is the greatest combination of spirits mankind has ever devisied. It is a classic because it is great. I still rember going to a place with a young guy working the bar and ordering a perfect Manhattan and him getting all steamed at me cause he thought I was taking a shot at him. I explained to him what I wanted and it was really pretty good.

The story is a great one and I will have one tonight in honor of the father in the article.

[bbqer]

I am currently a Seattle resident, but back when I was young and lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Manhattan of choice was a brandy Manhattan, made with brandy taking the place of bourbon or rye. I wasn't much of a Manhattan imbiber, but those few I did try were quite smooth and good. I suspect the brandy substitution was due to the large population of German and Polish people in the area and their preferences.

[bigbear]

it remains my opinion that a Manhattan made with bourbon .....

By the by..... I had a great Maker's Mark manhattan at the Lancaster Brewing Company not too long ago.

[kvltrede]

[i accidentally posted this at the end of the old vermouth thread. I deleted it there and brought it here where I meant to post it in the first place. I apologize for the inconvenience if I made you read it twice. Kurt]

My dad enjoys a Perfect Manhattan just about every day. He starts with Canadian Club but I don't know what vermouths he uses. I imagine it's standard, widely-available stuff.

I use M&R and Cinzano in martinis but beyond that I don't know much about vermouth other than what I've read here. I'm thinking I'd like to pick up a bottle of Vya for my dad, maybe one each of the sweet and the dry. Does this sound like a good idea? Will my dad notice the difference? If he's used to M&R or Tribuno do you think the Vyas (or King Eider) might be too much? You know how some people can be when introduced to something new...

Thanks!

Kurt

[mpav]

My Mom seldom drank, but when she did, as often as not she'd order a Rob Roy, which, when I was a child, she explained to me was a Manhattan made with Scotch. I'm fond of Manhattans, and occasionally toast my Mom with a Rob Roy.

[trillium]

[i accidentally posted this at the end of the old vermouth thread. I deleted it there and brought it here where I meant to post it in the first place. I apologize for the inconvenience if I made you read it twice. Kurt]

My dad enjoys a Perfect Manhattan just about every day. He starts with Canadian Club but I don't know what vermouths he uses. I imagine it's standard, widely-available stuff.

I use M&R and Cinzano in martinis but beyond that I don't know much about vermouth other than what I've read here. I'm thinking I'd like to pick up a bottle of Vya for my dad, maybe one each of the sweet and the dry. Does this sound like a good idea? Will my dad notice the difference? If he's used to M&R or Tribuno do you think the Vyas (or King Eider) might be too much? You know how some people can be when introduced to something new...

Thanks!

Kurt

The Vya has a very strong spicy taste to my nose, so I think your dad will notice the difference. Whether he likes it or not is just a matter of taste. I find it to taste too strongly of cinnamon for my tongue, and I probably won't buy another bottle, but it was fun to try. I like Carpano's Punt e Mes the best, but people that don't like bitter might not like it.

regards,

trillium

[slkinsey]

I like Carpano's Punt e Mes the best, but people that don't like bitter might not like it.

Interesting. It had never occurred to me to use Carpano Punt e Mes as a vermouth-category ingredient as opposed to a Campari-category ingredient. How does it work in a Manhattan? Do you have to use a smaller amount than you might vermouth to balance the drink?

[ludja]

.....

I've found that most Manhattan drinkers inherited their love of the drink from their fathers/grandfathers.

.....

Bingo..... That's my story.

Me too... As a child, my link to my father's manhattan's was to surreptiously swipe the cherry juice out of the maraschino jar to mix my own cocktail (Shirley Temple) or to put on top of vanilla ice cream. I would be reprimanded then for letting the cherries dry out... until I figured I could add some water to it....

OK--here's another manhattan story. Advance warning, I'm not sure of the complete signifcance! Shortly after moving to the SF area, I went to my first 'fancy' SF dinner for a birthday--Wolfgang Puck's Postrio. We were at the bar to order a pre-dinner cocktail; it was pretty crowded. I ordered a manhattan. When I did, an older grand dame in front of me loudlly exclaimed, "I just HAVE to see who would order a Manhattan before dinner". I was temporarily taken aback by this but all was assuaged by the coming of our hostess. She carried our cocktails for us to our table as we made our grand entrance down the main staircase to the dining room. Felt like a queen and it was a great start to a special evening. Never did quite understand the dowager's comment though...

Thanks for the link to the nice story.

I'm also interested to hear more about the Punt e Mes variation... I've had incredible Negroni's made with that.

[rancho_gordo]

  I like Carpano's Punt e Mes the best, but people that don't like bitter might not like it.

I wrote this years ago when I was a young lad so please try not to judge too harshly:

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