Mixing Drinks. It has been called a drinking man's cocktail — strong, urbane, and simple. It has also been called the "king of cocktails."
Origin and historyA popular history suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s, where it was invented for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mother) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, later prompting several people to request the drink by referring the name of the club where it originated — "the Manhattan cocktail." The original "Manhattan cocktail" was a mix of "American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura bitters".
However, there are prior references to various similar cocktail recipes called "Manhattan" and served in the Manhattan area. By one account it was invented in the 1860s by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street.
Variations
The Manhattan is subject to considerable variation and innovation, and is often a way for the best bartenders to show off their creativity. Many shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker instead of stirring it. Angustura are the classic bitters, but orange bitters, Peychaud's bitters, and others may be used. Some make their own bitters and syrups, substitute comparable digestifs in place of vermouth, specialize in local or rare whiskeys, or use other exotic ingredients. A lemon peel may be used as garnish. Some add juice from the cherry jar or Maraschino liqueur to the cocktail for additional sweetness and color.
Originally, bitters were considered an integral part of any cocktail, as the ingredient that differentiated a cocktail from a sling. Over time, those definitions of cocktail and sling have become archaic, as sling has fallen out of general use (other than in certain drink names), and cocktail can mean any drink that resembles a martini, or simply any mixed drink. Accordingly, bitters are occasionally omitted from a Manhattan unless specifically requested; purists, however, maintain that bitters are required to offset the sweetness of the whiskey and vermouth.
Using more vermouth and less whiskey to create a milder Manhattan may actually make the drink taste stronger to some drinkers because of the intense flavor of sweet red vermouth.
The following are other variations on the classic Manhattan:
- A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky.
- A Dry Manhattan is made with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth and served with a twist.
- A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.
- A Brandy Manhattan is made with brandy rather than rye.
- A Davy Byrne is made with Irish Whiskey and served with a twist on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass.
- A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient.
- A Latin Manhattan is made with equal parts of white rum, sweet and dry vermouth, and a splash of Maraschino cherry juice, served up with a twist.
- A Sake Manhattan is 1 part sake with 2 parts rye whiskey, garnished with a cherry.
In pop culture
Manhattans, along with cosmopolitans, were frequently consumed on the HBO television series, Sex and the City. The cocktail is featured most notably in the final scene of episode 90, where the main characters enjoy several rounds of the cocktail at a trendy bar. The narration by the protagonist explicitly uses the characters' affinity for the Manhattan cocktail as symbolic of their love of life in the Borough of Manhattan.
In the animated television series The Simpsons, in the episode "Bart the Murderer", Bart Simpson is spared by the Springfield mafia for making "supoib" Manhattans for them.
On the small North Frisian island of Föhr, the Manhattan cocktail is a standard drink at almost every cafe restaurant, and 'get together' of locals. The story goes, that many of of the people of Föhr emigrated to Manhattan during deep sea fishing trips, took a liking to the drink, and brought it back to Föhr with them. The drink is usually mixed 2 parts Vermouth to one part Whiskey, served ice cold, in an ice cold glass, or with ice.
Trivia
A Manhattan is the singature drank of Brian McEvilly
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