Manhattan cocktail: the original recipe with ingredients and tips for making it at home

He manhattan cocktailalso known simply as manhattanIt is one of to drink the most famous in the world prepared with whiskey, Vermouth and a few drops of angostura, a spice-based bitter with a slightly bitter taste. According to legend, it was invented in 1874 at the Manhattan Club in New York during a banquet organized by Jennie Jerome, who would have met on this occasion Lord Randolph Churchill, who would later become her husband and with whom she would have had the future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The presence of two very alcoholic drinks among its ingredients makes Manhattan quite a strong cocktail, with an alcohol content of 30 degreesideal foraperitif or for a after dinner with friends. It is traditionally served with maraschino cherries in a Martini Cup, one of the best-known cocktail glasses also used for margaritas and daiquiris. Being a cocktail made with the technique called Stir and strainice is added to the Manhattan when blending, but it is then served without it: the cup itself will keep it at the right temperature, given that before being used it is placed in the freezer for 5 minutes, from way to freeze.

We offer you the recipe for the Manhattan cocktail accredited by the IBA, the International Bartenders Association: to make it at home you will need, in addition to the angostura, the rye whiskeyalso called American whisky, and a sweet vermouth, different from the one usually used for the Martini, which is rather dry. If you can’t find rye, you can use Canadian whiskey or choose a type of whiskey more or less dry according to your tastes.

For professional preparation for the bartenders’ test, then you will need a mixing glassthe glass beaker in which to mix the ingredients to be dosed with the jigger and mix with bar spoonis a strainera kind of sieve in which to strain the drink in order to remove the ice.

Discover all the steps and tips to quickly and easily prepare the Manhattan cocktail, and after trying it, try your hand at making other famous drinks such as Spritz, Moscow Mule, Negroni and Mojito.

How to prepare the Manhattan cocktail

Before starting to prepare the Manhattan cocktail, put the glass in which you plan to serve it in the freezer: it will cool as you mix the ingredients. Then put some ice in a tall glass 1removing excess water if necessary.

Then pour two drops of angostura, whiskey and vermouth 2 and mix gently.

Using the strainer, filter the drink directly into the Martini glass 3.

Decorate with a maraschino cherry and serve your Manhattan cocktail immediately 4.

Tips and variations

Instead of maraschino cherries, you can use the lemon or orange zest: in this case you can squeeze them into the cocktail and pass them over the edge of the glass to bring out the flavor.

We have presented you with the original Manhattan cocktail recipe, but by replacing the type of whiskey, you can make it variants just as tasty: Bourbon Manhattanfor example, bourbon whiskey is used, while Scotch whiskey is used in the Rob Roy cocktail. Alternatively, you can replace the whiskey with Grand Marnier or brandy, as is the case with Manhattan Cognac.

As for the Martini, there is also one for the Manhattan “dry” version in which sweet vermouth is replaced by dry vermouth.