Manhattan
60 ml Rye whiskey, 30 ml Sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, 1 Maraschino cherry
Photo: The Toronto Cocktail (13570423424) by Farther Along · CC BY 2.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Rye whiskey
- 45 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon and a teaspoon. Fernet-Branca
- 45 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon and a teaspoon. Simple syrup - Only if you find Fernet a step too far without it (optional)
- 12 dashes Bottle Twelve quick shakes of the bottle - each a few drops, about a millilitre. Angostura bitters
- 6 twists Orange twist (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Stir everything over ice and strain into a chilled glass.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 456 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add the rye, Fernet and bitters - and the syrup if you want it softer.
- Stir for 30 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled coupe, or over one large cube.
- Express an orange peel over the top and drop it in.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Toronto
This one turns up in American bartending books from the 1920s and seems to have been named for the city the way the Manhattan was named for its own - which is to say, nobody knows quite why. In Canada it is a well-kept local secret, and in the rest of the world it is the drink you recommend to somebody who says they like Negronis and want something new.
Getting it right
Fernet-Branca is a polarising thing at the best of times - mint, saffron, rhubarb and about twenty-five other plants, at 39% - and here it is the whole personality of the drink. Start with a barspoon; if your guest pulls a face, the syrup will rescue it, and if they ask what is in it, you have made a friend for life. Rye rather than bourbon: the pepper stands up to the Fernet, where corn sugar would get flattened.
Tasting notes
Dark, herbal and bitter, with a minty coolness at the end and rye spice all the way through. It is a bitter drink for bitter weather.
More Rye whiskey cocktails
Old Pal
30 ml Rye whiskey, 30 ml Campari, 30 ml Dry vermouth, 1 Lemon twist
Pepper & Rye
50 ml Rye whiskey, 100 ml Dr Pepper, 10 ml Lime juice, 1 dash Angostura bitters, 1 Maraschino cherry