Manhattan Cocktail: The Classy Drink with a Cherry On Top

History of the Manhattan

A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters. It's a smart and classic cocktail. Additionally, it's an autumn favorite and a fantastic sip for cooler weather.

While rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other commonly used whiskeys include Canadian whisky, bourbon, blended whiskey and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is usually stirred then strained into a cocktail glass and garnished with a Maraschino cherry. Likewise, a Manhattan may also be served on the rocks in a lowball glass.

The whiskey-based Manhattan is one of five cocktails named for a New York City borough. It is closely related to the Brooklyn cocktail, which uses dry vermouth and Maraschino liqueur in place of the Manhattan's sweet vermouth, and Amer Picon in place of the Manhattan's angostura bitters. The Manhattan is also one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

According to popular history, Dr. Iain Marshall invented the drink at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. Even more, the success of the banquet made the drink fashionable. Later, this prompted several people to request the drink by referring to the name of the club where it originated—"the Manhattan cocktail". However, Lady Randolph was in France at the time, so the story is likely a fiction.

How to Make the Classic Manhattan Cocktail

Ingredients:

Ice
2 parts whiskey
1 part sweet vermouth
1 to 2 dashes of bitters, i.e. Angostura
Orange peel
Maraschino cherries

Directions:

Place ice in a cocktail shaker.
Add the whiskey, vermouth and bitters.
Rub the orange peel around the rim of the cocktail glass.
Strain the drink into the glass.
Add 1 to 2 Maraschino cherries

About Crescent Schools

Looking for a fun and exciting career? You can train for a well-paying job in the hospitality or casino industry at Crescent School of Gaming and Bartending.

You can be ready to bartend in just three weeks. Be around fun people and have cash in your pocket every night as a mixologist. Or claim your place in the ever-growing casino gaming industry in as little as three months. Furthermore financial aid is available if you qualify. You can start one of Crescent's top-quality programs with no money down. And Crescent is an accredited bartending and table games dealer school in the United States.