How to make a Manhattan:
1. Assemble the necessary ingredients. This involves a trip to the liquor department to make a few “investments,” which will really be gone in a few days because, hey, it’s the holidays.
2. Assemble the necessary equipment. When you see the martini shaker on the top shelf of the pantry, don’t bother your husband (who’s in the next room) or get a chair (literally only 10 feet away). Simply grab a long-handled wooden spoon and use it to gently poke and slide the shaker off the shelf and into your hands.
3. Clean up broken glass from the giant wine glass you knocked off the shelf instead of the martini shaker.
4. Combine rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters, and ice in the martini shaker. Don’t put the cap on too tight or you’ll miss the fun of spraying everybody in the room when it comes time to shake it.
5. Clean up splattered ingredients, otherwise that business is gonna get sticky.
6. Strain into a highball glass.
7. Become dumbfounded as to how to open the shaker in order to make another drink. Slice your knuckle open with a butter knife trying to pry the darn top off.
8. Place one maraschino cherry in your drink.
9. Allow your 2 year old to deliver the drink to his father. Feel like mother of the year when he inevitably spills some on his hands and smells like liquor for the rest of the night.
10. Make one for yourself and declare if the most well-earned drink of all time.
This recipe comes straight out of Winter Cocktails
by Maria Del Mar Sacasa. It’s full of fun, boozy recipes worthy of a cold winter night. I look forward to trying some of the punch recipes when we have people over for Christmas. There are also a handful of appetizer recipes that pair perfectly with the cocktails in the book.
I thought Manhattans would be a perfect Thanksgiving drink. My husband and his cousins love rye whiskey, and the other additions make it a little more palatable for me. This is definitely a grown up drink (shouldn’t all alcoholic beverages be so?). There are no fruity juices or infused vodkas involved. The maraschino cherry is as close as this cocktail gets to being girly. Despite my difficulties above, it is amazingly simple to memorize and make.
I received a free review copy of Winter Cocktails but, aside from the Amazon affiliate links above, was in no other way compensated or expected to write about it. I just thought it was a really cool book and of course, as always, all opinions are my own.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ounces rye whiskey
- 1 ounce sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 4 ice cubes
- 1 maraschino cherry
Instructions
- Combine whiskey, vermouth, bitters, and ice in a shaker. Shake vigorously and then strain into a chilled glass. Drop in a maraschino cherry and serve.
Notes
Kendra says
Funny – sounds like the same way I would make a drink!
Agness of Run Agness Run says
Great recipe for an amazing beverage, Lindsay! The party can start!