Quarantined Cocktails: The Manhattan

Every Friday we’re going to share professional cocktail tips and tricks for your at-home, weekend festivities. Whether you’re curious about new ways to work with spirits on your liquor shelf, or you want fresh ideas for mock-tails you can create, we’ll create something for you.

This is week three! We are continuing to learn more about the way flavors and spirits play off of each other, via the formats of the most classic cocktails bartenders learned first, to build the most innovative beverages you enjoy in cocktail bars.

This week we’re exploring The Manhattan. One of the oldest classic cocktails, created somewhere around 1880, depending on who you ask. Still incredibly popular today, and altered very little. If you’re curious to read more about its interesting history, here’s a fun, short article with all the details.

In my particular quarantined case, I’ll be making a Rob Roy — The Manhattan’s scotch-based equivalent. Similarly to the previous two weeks when we made a Classic Daiquiri and a Margarita, I’m introducing you to the most versatile classic cocktails to enable you to use whatever happens to be left on the shelf.

Please share with us your photos, recipes, and riffs on Instagram and Facebook. If you have specific ingredients or future requests, shoot an email to quarantinedcocktails@gmail.com.

Transcript:

Hey Community! I’m Leigh Ann and this is week three of our series, Quarantined Cocktails, where I teach you how to make a new classic cocktail every week so that over the weekend, you can dive into all of the ingredients and spirits you have at home and start to get a little bit creative.

The last two weeks, we talked about the Classic Daiquiri and the Margarita and talked a little bit about the balance of sweet and sour. This week, we’re going to change gears a little bit and I’m going to talk about the Manhattan, or in my case, I’m going to make a Rob Roy which is simply the scotch equivalent to the Manhattan.

That’s going to be two ounces of whiskey, one ounce of sweet vermouth, two dashes of bitters in its most classic format. I would highly recommend using a rye whiskey if you’re going to make a Manhattan. For the Rob Roy, the Singleton is going to be a little bit of a lighter scotch. You’re welcome to play around with that. However, you like to drink it.

So I’m actually going to do two and a half ounces of the Singleton, one ounce of the sweet vermouth, and I like six dashes of bitters in mine. I really am a fan of smoky bitter flavors. But if you like the sweet more, by all means, pull back the amount of scotch or use a little bit more sweet vermouth. You’re welcome to do whatever you actually like.

This would traditionally be served up, but I prefer mine on the rocks. And my one big tip for this cocktail, whatever tools you are working with, I highly recommend stirring in either glass or metal whether you have these guys, these, or these guys. These materials conduct the temperature better so you can make the cocktail cold while not over diluting it. And again, traditionally this would be garnished with brandied cherries. I’m not a huge fan. So I like to garnish with a lemon twist.

And I also like to discard my twists.

So, however you like to drink it, that’s the way it should be made.
Please let us know if there’s anything more specific that you’d like to get into. And until next week,

Cheers!