Manhattan

My Brooklyn born and raised husband is a longtime Manhattan cocktail fan. Sometime during the 2016 Prez primary cycle when Lindsay Graham suggested if one started drinking during happy hour and had enough alcohol that Trump might start to make sense, we decided to put this cocktail recipe in our daily repertoire. Great with rye (hubby) or bourbon (me). We use just a tick less vermouth. And Amerena cherries. I like mine on rocks. Great drink. But did not work for that making sense thing.

I've tried every ratio (2:1, 3:1, 4:1) and then tripled the quantity, yet Trump still does not make sense. Even tried his clorox suggestion, but it overwhelmed the drink.

The best mnemonic for this recipe is remembering Manhattan's area code: 212

Try 12 drinks and 45 (the prez) will make at least a little sense.
Maker's Mark may be my favorite for this drink. I moved to NYC in my 20's and I like to keep certain recipes the way I learned them back then just for the sake of sanity!

--more apt to cook after one--or two.

A perfect Manhattan is made with both sweet (red) and dry (white) vermouth. 2 oz rye or bourbon, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 2 dashes bitters.

I think this ratio is a good one--maybe I'd back off a little on the vermouth if I had a really solid rye. I was told by a bartender one could split this between dry and sweet vermouth to add back something botanical--apparently, the original recipe was closer to that. Also, although some may scoff, I have sometimes added seltzer--let's say, half a can--to make it a little more summery when the weather is right.

I like to do 3 oz of whiskey (preferably Woodford Reserve), 1 oz of vermouth, a dash of Peychaud and a dash of Angostura bitters stirred with 2 ice cubes for 15-20 seconds. Put Luxardo cherry in the bottom of the martini glass with a bit of the syrup and pour the drink slowly over a spoon so as not to disturb the syrup in the bottom of the glass.

I may be alone here, but I prefer the less sweet and easy to fish out stemmed supermarket maraschino cherries. Luxardo and artisanal cherries are too sweet and jammy.

Try this: empty an inexpensive sherry into a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Add to it one pound of Demerara sugar and stir until it dissolves. Allow to cool and pour it back into the empty sherry bottle. Use in place of sweet vermouth. You’re welcome.

I tended bar in some classy places in Westchester County in NY and Fairfield County in CT so many years ago that the classic Manhattan was a standard along with Martinis, Whiskey Sours, Bloody Marys, Tom Collins, and Planter's Punch. The Manhattan is the one that stays with me as a "comfort beverage."

Recently, I've been going with a couple of different recipes. I been consistently use Orange Angostora Bitters and Dolin Rouge vermouth. However, for the whisky, I've been switching between Rittenhouse Rye, Red Bush Irish Whisky and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. All are delicious. Quite different, so I let my mood and the situation dictate the whisky.

If one uses a great vermouth like Carpano Antica Formula that is more robust, one can and should go with a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio imo. Also, as this vermouth is truly sweeter than others, rye is the preferred to bourbon choice. Woodford Reserve rye is quite good.

We alternate between Bulleit Rye and Canadian Club Reserve, with Dolin Rouge, and Hellas Orange Bitters. My wife likes going 50/50 with the rye and vermouth, but I do the standard version. This always kicks off dinner prep, and especially helped us forget who was in office before Joe.

Delicious with High West Double Rye, a decent rouge vermouth, and dried Mortimer cherries that have been soaked in rye our bourbon. Only issue is it's too good and you'll tend to tip them back too quickly,