It was frigid when I stepped out­side, but I was feel­ing mel­low, con­tent. I had left Old Town Social after a few Manhattan’s, the mood still lin­ger­ing. I was doing good, mid win­ter noth­ing but a rumor.

I had planned to be there for only a short while and needed some­thing to give me a kick, some­thing to stir the con­scious­ness. Beer wouldn’t do it but a Man­hat­tan would — a clas­sic that gets the job done. The attrac­tive wait­ress purred rye or bour­bon? Wild Turkey Rye please.

This clas­sic orig­i­nated from its name­sake, Man­hat­tan, dur­ing the 1870’s. It car­ries the legacy as one of the ear­li­est cock­tails cre­ated, bring­ing with it a bold fla­vor heavy on atti­tude and ele­gance. Pop­u­lar­ized by upper class Man­hat­tan­ites and celebri­ties dur­ing the 50’s and 60’s, its slipped into the back­ground but shouldn’t be ignored.

There are many meth­ods to make a Man­hat­tan, but the basic, tra­di­tional model can never go wrong, the other vari­a­tions based on per­sonal pref­er­ence. A Man­hat­tan is a com­bi­na­tion of Angos­tura bit­ters, Ital­ian ver­mouth and rye whiskey. Some pre­fer bour­bon, but go with rye (Wild Turkey, Cana­dian Club, Crown Royal, Old Over­holt) as the foun­da­tion. Oth­er­wise it’s too sweet, no longer hav­ing the com­bi­na­tion which con­trasts per­fectly with each other. The bold rye whiskey is slightly masked by the sweet ver­mouth, the bit­ters adding a punch. It’s shaken with ice, poured into a chilled cock­tail glass and gar­nished with a cherry. Some pre­fer it on the rocks, served in an old fash­ioned glass.

Here’s how you can have one at home:

• 2 ounces rye whiskey
• 1 ounce Ital­ian sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Angos­tura bitters
• glass type: cock­tail or old fashioned

We’ll rec­om­mend a liba­tion now and then, to help get you through that sit­u­a­tion that may require some­thing stronger or bolder than your usual choice of brew. If you have any rec­om­men­da­tions, please let us know.

Return to our home­page to learn more about cus­tom dress shirts.

Be Socia­ble, Share!

• 

Categories: Libations

Tags: Angostura bitters, cocktail, Italian vermouth, libation, manhattan, manhattan drink recipe, manhattan ingrediants, mixed drink, mixed drink tips, rye whiskey, winter alcohol drink