Manhattan Drink Recipes ·

8 Manhattan Drink Recipes to Try Right Now

 

One of the most famous drinks offered at parties or at any local bar is the Manhattan cocktail. Every drink enthusiast has their fair share of stories about how much they love this cocktail the first time they have tasted it. This drink started in the 18th century and still remains known up until today because of the different versions made by people who love this drink. The development of this drink includes recipes coming from different countries that you will surely fall in love with. Manhattan drink recipe is easy to make because the ingredients can be accessed in the grocery store near you and the procedure is very simple to execute. 

What Is a Manhattan Drink?

Manhattan is a type of cocktail drink made with 3 ingredients namely whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. It was said to be invented by lain Marshall during the 1870s. The name of this drink comes from Manhattan, New York, where it was first served for a banquet. It uses whiskey, so you can expect that it contains alcohol while the bitters and vermouth give earthy undertone flavors to your drink. It is not overly sweet unlike other cocktails but if you like it sweet, we are going to help you make some add-ons to your ingredients. Just follow the Manhattan drink recipe of your choice below!

How to Make a Manhattan?

This one is the classic or original Manhattan recipe that you can easily make at home. It is somehow the same as the Brooklyn cocktail minus the Amer picon. The best thing about this cocktail is you can make one today for the parties you are planning to host the next day. Yes, there is no need for you to do it all in one day because it can be refrigerated and good for consumption for one whole week. Just don’t forget to buy your maraschino cherries to make this cocktail even more savory. 

classic Manhattan recipe

Ingredients

In making pitted cherries, you will need to remove the stem of the cherry first. To get the stone out of the cherry, get your chopstick and position it at the end of the stem hole and slowly push the chopstick inside so the stone will be pushed out. 

In medium heat, pour the maraschino liqueur into a saucepan and let it simmer. Add the pitted cherries and then remove the saucepan from heat and transfer the mixture into a large jar or container. Choose the one with a tight lid. Refrigerate the container overnight or when you are ready to use it for your cocktail. 

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as whiskey, bitters, angostura bitters, and vermouth for 10-15 seconds.
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. Rub the orange peel around the rim of the copper mugs.
  4. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  5. Add the liqueur and pitted cherries to serve. 

What Are the Different Manhattan Cocktail Recipes? 

1. Dry Manhattan Recipe

This cocktail variation is best for people who don’t like their cocktail to be sweet. For the traditional Manhattan, the sweet vermouth makes the drink sweet. That’s why if you replace sweet vermouth with another ingredient such as dry or white vermouth, you will be able to avoid the overly sweet taste of this cocktail. This is best for people who like their cocktail to not taste like regular juice or soft drinks. 

However, if you are not used to drinking a cocktail with combined whiskey and dry vermouth, you may find its taste weird, knowing that dry vermouth tastes earthy while whiskey is somehow spicy with other added flavors depending on the brands. Overall this Manhattan recipe tastes dry. 

dry Manhattan recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 2 ounces Jim Beam whiskey
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 2 dashes of angostura bitters
  • Pitted cherries
  • Lemon peel (for garnish)

In making pitted cherries, you will need to remove the stem of the cherry first. To get the stone out of the cherry, get your chopstick and position it at the end of the stem hole and slowly push the chopstick inside so the stone will be pushed out. 

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as rye whiskey, bitters, angostura bitters, and dry vermouth for 10-15 seconds.
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with pitted cherries to serve.

2. Cuban Manhattan Recipe

Another variation of the Manhattan cocktails is the one with dark rum in its ingredients. It’s called the Cuban Manhattan since rum is believed to originate from Caribbean islands. So instead of using rye whiskey, dark rum is the alternative ingredient to be used. You should expect that this drink will be extra strong than the classic Manhattan knowing that dark rum undergoes a lot of processes in wooden casks before it is sold in public. The dark rum comes with a lot of smoky-sweet flavors too. 

You can also use white rum if you don’t want your drink to be light with a little bit of sweetness. Either of the two will work as long as you choose the one made of high-quality ingredients. White rum also has less alcohol content than dark rum but this all depends on the brands you choose to buy.

Cuban Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 2 ounces dark rum
  • 1 ounce dry vermouth
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 2 dashes of angostura bitters
  • Maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as rum, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and angostura bitters for 10-15 seconds.
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

3. Perfect Manhattan Recipe

The perfect Manhattan is considered perfect because it uses not just sweet vermouth but also dry vermouth. So, unlike the Manhattan recipes, we have already discussed above, that use either of the two vermouths, this recipe needs both. This gives two different flavors which are sweet and dry, giving you the taste that you want best for your cocktail. 

Some Manhattan lovers believe that the best way to experience a Manhattan is to simply try both ingredients to your drink. And you don’t have to worry about making this one because it is very easy to pull off. The only difference is the addition of both sweet and dry vermouth. 

Perfect Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 2 ounces Bullet 95 rye whiskey
  • 1 ounce dry vermouth
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 2 dashes of aromatic bitters
  • Maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as bourbon whiskey, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and aromatic bitters for 10-15 seconds.
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

4. Brandy Manhattan Recipe

Instead of rum or rye whiskey, the best ingredient to use for your Manhattan cocktail is the Brandy. This is one way of making a change to your favorite Manhattan drink to make its taste different from the usual. The brandy tastes sweeter than whiskey and rum plus the fruity flavors added would be best for people who like their Manhattan cocktail to be flavorful. 

This is just another variation of Manhattan that you can make if in case the available beverage you have in your house is brandy. Don’t be afraid to make some experiments with your favorite Manhattan because you will never know how its taste can give you the sharp bite that you are looking for in your drink. You may also want to add some maraschino cherry juice to make this variation extra savory. 

Brandy Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 3 ounces of brandy
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 2 dashes of Peychaud’s aromatic bitters
  • Maraschino cherries (for garnish)
  • Maraschino liqueur (optional)

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as brandy, sweet vermouth, and aromatic bitters for 10-15 seconds. (Don’t forget to add your maraschino liqueur if you prefer to add the ingredient.)
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

5. Paris Manhattan Recipe

If you still prefer to try other drinks to mix with your Manhattan cocktail but don’t like the sweet vermouth, we still have an option for you. The Paris Manhattan recipe uses St. German liqueur replacing the vermouth ingredients. It is still sweet and has a flowery taste because it is made up of over 1000 flowers with herbal notes that are very smooth to drink. St. German liqueur is a versatile drink that’s why it is also used for other cocktails, not just Manhattan. 

However, you need to remember that St. German liqueur is made up of 40% ABV, while the whiskey is made up of ranges from 40% to 50%. And since the two ingredients are present in this Paris Manhattan recipe, you may need to watch out for your consumption. You can learn more about different oz in a shot glass here. 

Paris Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as whiskey, St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, dry vermouth, and Angostura bitters for 10-15 seconds. 
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

6. Tijuana Manhattan Recipe

Love to include the taste of tequila in your Manhattan? That’s totally possible with this Tijuana Manhattan recipe. It still used the same ingredients except for one which is the base alcohol used, rye whiskey. The whiskey is replaced with tequila which has sweet and earthy flavors knowing that it is made out of agave. It’s no wonder why tequila is used as a mix for cocktails because of its purest and savory taste. For most parties, you can’t just go home without a shot of tequila. 

Due to its high demand and popularity, even celebrities have produced their own tequila brands, and you may be unaware that your favorite brand is owned by them. Check here the list of tequila brands owned by famous celebrities. 

Tijuana Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 3 ounces of Sierra Silver tequila
  • 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
  • Maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as tequila, sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters for 10-15 seconds. 
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

7. Brooklyn Manhattan Recipe

If in other Manhattan cocktails the maraschino liqueur is optional, with Brooklyn, it’s one of the main ingredients needed. You only have to replace the sweet vermouth and maintain the other ingredients. Brooklyn is one of the cocktails like Manhattan that came from the city of New York. This cocktail even started in the late ‘20s and ‘30s and was able to get back on track recently. 

The maraschino liqueur will add a different taste to your drink because it is sweet as cherry fruit with a little bit of bitterness because of its alcohol content. Moreover, the bittersweet orange flavor of Amer picon makes it more savory.

Brooklyn Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and Amer picon for 10-15 seconds. 
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

8. Black Manhattan Recipe

Black Manhattan is also one of the most favored Manhattan drink recipes that replaces sweet vermouth with Italian amaro. If you’re not familiar with amaro yet, it is a liqueur made of herbs that also taste bitter. If you are often delighted by a Manhattan with caramel and chocolate-like flavor that are not just sweet but also bitter, the black Manhattan is for you. 

The most popular Italian amaro is the Averna. It has a caramel flavor with hints of citrus, myrtle, and many others. But if you prefer the ones which are less sweet, you still have a lot of options to choose from like Zucca. This amaro is less sweet yet it has a more bitter and earthy taste. So, this purely depends on your preferred flavors for your black Manhattan drink recipe.

Black Manhattan Recipe

Ingredients

  • Ice cubes
  • 2 ounces rye whiskey
  • 1 ounce Averna (You can also use Zucca)
  • Maraschino liqueur 
  • Maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Directions

  1. Use a cocktail shaker to mix the ingredients such as rye whiskey, maraschino liqueur, and Averna for 10-15 seconds. 
  2. Add the ice cubes and shake again until cold.
  3. In a copper mug, pour another set of ice cubes and strain the mixture from the cocktail shaker.
  4. Garnish with maraschino cherries to serve. 

Conclusion

It’s easy for you to make a Manhattan drink if you know different ways and ingredients to mix in your recipes. Don’t settle for the usual Manhattan when you know you can do something more that you can share with your family and friends. Don’t forget to serve it with the use of copper mugs. Yes! Copper mugs are not only for Moscow mule but also for other cocktail drinks like Manhattan. Copper which is a good thermal conductor can retain the temperature of a cold Manhattan. In this way, you don’t have to add more ice that may make your Manhattan drink recipe watery.

copper mugs

Remember that copper is also needed inside your body and with copper mugs, you can be sure that its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties will help you be free of bacteria and body inflammation. If you don’t have a copper mug yet, you can get 100% pure copper mugs on Amazon that come with different accessories too!

If you liked these amaretto recipes, we know you surely want other drink recipes of your favorite beverages here. 

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