Served On The Rocks or Straight Up, the Classic Manhattan is built as follows:
MANHATTAN ON THE ROCKS (Built in the following order)
- Rock Glass, ice
- 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
- 1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey
- While holding the rock glass, stir the ingredients with the skinny end of the bar spoon 7 times.
- Add a Cherry Garnish
MANHATTAN STRAIGHT UP (Built in the following order)
- Cocktail Glass, frozen or chilled by placing ice in it plus an ounce or so of club soda to lower the temperature of the glass more quickly (convection current of the bubbles plus chilled soda water directly in contact with the glass surface will chill it faster than merely stagnant dead air space between the ice and the glass)
- Mixing Glass 3/4 filled with ice
- 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
- 1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey
- While holding the mixing glass firmly in one hand, stir the ingredients with the skinny end of the bar spoon 7 times.
- Toss the ice and club soda that was chilling the cocktail glass.
- Using a Julep Strainer, strain the Manhattan from the mixing glass into the chilled cocktail glass.
- Add a Cherry Garnish.
IMPORTANT: When serving the Manhattan Up, lift the Manhattan by the stem of the cocktail glass.
You went to a good deal of trouble to make this drink properly and chill the glass as much as possible – you don’t want to warm it up and ruin it now! What the customer chooses to do with it or how they want to hold it is their business. 🙂
The classic Manhattan’s roots stretch back to the old Manhattan Club, in 1874, and to honor it and do it justice rye whiskey (51 percent minimum, aged a minimum of 2 years in new charred oak barrels), and not just any old well whiskey should be used.
Rittenhouse Rye, Dickel Rye (George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey), Templeton Rye, Bulleit 95 Rye, Woodford Reserve Straight Kentucky Rye Whiskey, Sazerac Rye Whiskey, (Ri)1, Redemption Rye, Michter’s, Old Overholt Rye Whiskey and Russell’s Reserve Rye are examples of rye.
Remember, the up glass the Manhattan is going to be served in should be chilled. To make and serve your Manhattan to perfection you want to leave no detail overlooked.
As vermouth doesn’t mix well with liquor the mixing glass needs to have the ice in it first before the bitters are shaken and vermouth is poured in, in order to coat the ice and spread it out evenly, so that when the Rye is poured it mixes easily and evenly requiring less stirring.
After so carefully chilling the drink in the mixing glass and chilling the glass in which it is served (and even more importantly if the up glass is not chilled) the Manhattan is served by the stem so that the fingers and hand of the bartender don’t add any more warmth to the drink.
Site Author, David Jonathan Curtis: David Jonathan Curtis, a seasoned professional in his fifth decade of bartending and bar management, began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in both iconic Midtown clubs and Wall Street bars, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
