The history of Manhattan
The Manhattan is one of the oldest and classic cocktails ever made, an international cocktail by the IBA, the International Bartender Association, born in February 24, 1951.
The history says that Manhattan was created in 1874 in the Manhattan Club of New York, by an unknown barman. Today, this cocktail is one of the icon in the night world. One of the thesis says that the cocktail was created by Dr. Ian Marshall for a banquet in honor of the Winston Churchill’s mother, but critics affirmed Mrs. Churchill was probably in France the year.
The name was probably a clue for the Manhattan Club, where it should be served for the first time as aperitif.
For the Americans is a pre-dinner, energetic but not too heavy, because the presence of the angostura. For Italians it is more like an after-dinner, because very alcoholic for the habit of the Peninsula, at least before the meal.
Since the first version of Manhattan, barmen enjoyed to create some variation, like the Dry Manhattan, with Martini Dry instead of the Red.
Initially the ingredients of the cocktail were Rye American Whiskey, Italian vermuth and Angostura. When Prohibitionism was in place in the US, barmen had to replace the whiskey of the United States with the Canadian one, because the Us one became scarce. Since that time anyway, the Canadian one is the authorized in the IBA recipe.
Curiosity
Other sources say that Manhattan was already served in America in 1860, in a Broadway bar, under the name of the Black. In 1930, again with another name, the same recipe was described by Elliott and Strong in their book Shake ’em up!.
In a town of the Föhr islands, closed to Denmark, Manhattan is very popular because some people emigrated in the United States during the fishing strike. Once back in the islands they brought the cocktail recipe.
The recipe
The recipe today for the classic Manhattan wants the Canadian Whiskey, the Red Martini and the Angostura.
- 5 cl Canadian Whiskey (or Rye)
- 2 cl of Martini Rosso
- 1 drop of Angostura
- 1 cocktail cherry
The construction is indirect, that is, the cocktail should be mixed not directly in the glass but in the mixing glass, to be then poured into the Martini glass. The preparation sees as first the filling of the mixing glass with ice. Then you need pour the Angostura drop first, or even two for you want particularly bitter tastes. Then it is the turn for the Red Martini and finally for the whiskey. Then mix slowly with the stirer, for about 30 seconds. Once done, just pour into a martini glass, frozen, without ice, and finish with a cocktail cherry.
The variants
Manhattan has today many variations, under other names that remind to him. Many bartenders used their creativity to make new proposals. Some of them have shaken it to increase the smell, in particular of the Vermuth, keeping the original recipe.
In many cases have been changed the ingredients to add some flavour, like use a drop of Maraschino, or the Fernet Branca instead of whiskey. This cocktail is called Fanciulli.
The most famous variation, part of international cocktails IBA, is the Rob Roy with the Scotch Whisky instead of the Canadian one.
Perfect Manhattan is another famous variation, with both Vermuth, Dry and Red, in small proportions. In the central United States people likes the Brandy Manhattan where brandy is used instead f Whiskey. The Cuban Manhattan sees the dark rum to replace whiskey, while it is the Tequila to replace the Whiskey in Tijuana Manhattan. In the Fourth Regiment, bartenders have changed the doses and the aromatic bitter instead of angostura.
