The Manhattan Cocktail

One of the finest and oldest cocktails, the Manhattan is truly a classic cocktail. A very simple, but enjoyable, recipe that only requires a few ingredients. This recipe is also variable to each persons taste. But, none the less lets dive into it!

For this drink you will need the following:

• 2 ounces Filmoore Rides Whiskey
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth
• 2 to 3 dashes aromatic bitters
• Cherry, for garnish

First step will be to pour the whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters into a mixing glass with ice cubes.

Next, just stir your mixture, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with the cherry and enjoy!

Recipe Variations:

The Manhattan has inspired countless cocktails over the years. You may also notice that many share only the whiskey in common with the original recipe. Just as the name “martini” is popular with fancy vodka and gin cocktails, and “margarita” is a common choice for tequila cocktails, “Manhattan” has become synonymous with nearly any whiskey cocktail that’s served “up.”

• Dry Manhattan: Use a dash of dry vermouth and garnish with a lemon twist.
• Perfect Manhattan: Use equal parts sweet and dry vermouth and garnish with a lemon twist.
• Bourbon and Blood: Blood orange liqueur is paired with bourbon and vermouth for a bourbon and blood, and a hint of tarragon adds a truly interesting twist.
• Manhattan 101: Fresh ginger and mint shine in this fascinating Manhattan, and the powdered sugar is certainly a unique spin.
• Mile High Manhattan: Skip the vermouth and pour a vanilla liqueur along with orange liqueur for a mile high. It gets really intriguing when you add a little anise to the mix.
• The Rustic Manhattan: Apple whiskey and raspberry vermouth put an unusual twist on the original recipe. It is fantastic for autumn nights.

The Whiskey to Vermouth Ratio

The Manhattan is much like the martini in that it requires a base spirit (whiskey or gin) with vermouth. The martini uses dry vermouth while the Manhattan uses sweet vermouth. This sweeter fortified wine works best with the majority of whiskeys. Yet, if you find the right whiskey, dry vermouth can be used to make a great drink as well.

Like the martini, each drinker will have their preferred ratio of whiskey to vermouth. The 2:1 in the recipe above is a good starting point and the most common mix for the Manhattan. Many drinkers also prefer a 4:1 mix with just 1/2 ounce of sweet vermouth for 2 ounces of whiskey. Play around with this ratio to find your personal idea of the perfect Manhattan. It’s also likely that this will change depending on the particular whiskey you’re pouring.

The story of the Sazerac cocktail began in 1838 when Antoine Amedie Peychaud, a New Orleans apothecary, mixed cognac with his proprietary Peychaud’s Bitters. In the 1850s, this “toddy” (not a hot toddy, but an early name for a cocktail) was the signature drink of the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans. That’s where it received its name and became the first “branded” cocktail. In 1869, bartender Thomas H. Handy purchased the bar from Sewell Taylor. A few years later, he added Peychaud’s Bitters to the portfolio of his growing liquor business, which would become the Sazerac Company. By the 1890s, rye whiskey took over for the brandy, and Handy was selling bottled Sazeracs. In the 1940s, Herbsaint became the anise liqueur of choice, primarily due to the longtime ban of absinthe in the U.S. (it was lifted in 2007).