Manhattan
A Manhattan is 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cocktail cherry. Those are the IBA’s measures, five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The most repeated origin story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club in the 1870s, at a banquet given by Lady Randolph Churchill; she was in France at the time, so the story is unlikely. What is established is that the drink was in print by 1884, in guides by O.H. Byron and Charlie Paul. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. Keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Variations
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Luxardo maraschino cherry
Ingredients
50ml
Around 40% ABV, with real spice. Rye gives a drier Manhattan in which the bitters read clearly; bourbon gives a rounder, sweeter one. The IBA names rye, and so do we.
20ml
A rich Italian style at about 16% ABV. Refrigerate it once open and finish it within about four weeks; at over a quarter of the drink, a tired bottle shows.
1 dash
One dash, as the IBA gives it. It ties the whiskey to the vermouth; a second dash starts competing with the rye.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer or with ice water.
Add the rye, sweet vermouth and Angostura to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Empty the coupe and strain the drink into it.
Drop in a cocktail cherry.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Treat the vermouth as perishable. Refrigerate it from opening and replace it within about four weeks; a stale bottle is the commonest reason a Manhattan disappoints. A rich Italian style such as Carpano Antica Formula, with its vanilla and dried fruit, sits closest to rye. One dash of Angostura is the IBA’s measure, and it is enough. The bitters frame the whiskey and vermouth; a second dash starts to compete with the rye. Use a mixing glass and a spoon, never the shaker. Shaking clouds the drink and leaves bubbles on the surface, where 20 to 30 seconds of stirring chills and dilutes it and keeps it clear.
Behind the Manhattan
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The most repeated story places the Manhattan at the Manhattan Club in New York in the mid-1870s, at a banquet given by Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, for the presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. She was in France and pregnant at the time, so the story is very likely fiction.
What is established is print. Charlie Paul’s American and Other Drinks and O.H. Byron’s The Modern Bartender’s Guide both carry a Manhattan in 1884, Byron in two versions, one with French vermouth and one with Italian. In 1914 Jacques Straub gave bourbon and Italian vermouth with a dash of Angostura, stirred.
The Template
Whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, stirred cold and served up. Change the whiskey to Scotch and it is a Rob Roy; swap the vermouth for dry and add maraschino and it heads towards the Brooklyn. David Embury listed the Manhattan among the six basic drinks in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks in 1948.
Rye Versus Bourbon
Rye’s spice gives a drier, sharper Manhattan in which the vermouth and bitters stay distinct. Bourbon’s corn gives a rounder, sweeter one that is easier on a first-timer and kinder to a modest vermouth. During Prohibition, Canadian whisky filled the glass because it was what could be had.
The Vermouth Standard
At 20ml in a drink of about 70ml before dilution, the vermouth is over a quarter of the glass. Fresh, it brings dried fruit, body and the sweetness that balances the rye; stale, it tastes flat and slightly medicinal. A rich Italian style such as Carpano Antica Formula suits rye best.
The Perfect Manhattan
The Perfect Manhattan splits the same 20ml of vermouth into 10ml of sweet and 10ml of dry. The dry vermouth adds a herbal, wine-like edge and trims the sweetness, so the rye’s spice comes forward. It usually takes a lemon twist, though a cherry suits it too.
Three Manhattans
The Manhattan and its two vermouth variations
Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 20ml sweet
- Bitters
- One dash Angostura
- Garnish
- Cocktail cherry
- UK units
- About 2.3
Perfect Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 10ml sweet, 10ml dry
- Bitters
- One dash Angostura
- Garnish
- Cherry or lemon twist
- UK units
- About 2.3
Dry Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 20ml dry
- Bitters
- None
- Garnish
- Lemon twist
- UK units
- About 2.3
| Drink | Rye | Vermouth | Bitters | Garnish | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | 50ml | 20ml sweet | One dash Angostura | Cocktail cherry | About 2.3 |
| Perfect Manhattan | 50ml | 10ml sweet, 10ml dry | One dash Angostura | Cherry or lemon twist | About 2.3 |
| Dry Manhattan | 50ml | 20ml dry | None | Lemon twist | About 2.3 |
For Scotch in place of rye, see the Rob Roy; for dry vermouth with maraschino, the Brooklyn; for amaro in place of vermouth, the Black Manhattan.
How to Serve It
Stirred, strained into a chilled coupe and finished with a cherry dropped into the glass. A rocks glass over one large cube is the alternative, longer and cooler as it melts. It suits the hour before dinner as well as the one after.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Rye)Rye whiskey, in American law, takes at least 51% of its grain from rye and its colour from new charred oak, and goes into bottle at a 40% ABV minimum; our recipes take 40% as the figure. Rye makes a drier, spicier, more peppery spirit than corn, which is why stirred classics such as the Manhattan, Vieux Carré and Brooklyn are written for it. It appears in 23 of our recipes.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Manhattan?
Rye or bourbon?
Should a Manhattan be shaken or stirred?
What cherry goes in a Manhattan?
Why does the vermouth matter so much?
What is a Perfect Manhattan?
Why is it called a Manhattan?
How strong is a Manhattan?
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La Louisiane
La Louisiane is 30ml each of rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Bénédictine, with two dashes of absinthe and three of Peychaud’s bitters, stirred for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora, with a maraschino cherry on a pick. About 3.1 UK units. Stanley Clisby Arthur printed it in 1937, in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, as the special cocktail of Restaurant de la Louisiane, a French Creole restaurant in New Orleans. He named no bartender and gave no date. His recipe pours a third of a jigger of each of the three, with three or four dashes each of absinthe substitute and Peychaud’s; ours keeps the thirds and trims the absinthe to two dashes. It sits on the Manhattan’s frame of rye and sweet vermouth, with Bénédictine poured at the same measure as both. That makes it richer and more herbal than its parent, and the anise of the absinthe and the Peychaud’s places it in New Orleans.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026