Escape From Manhattan

How to change a standard Manhattan cocktail recipe for a flavor vacation

All photos by Amanda Schuster

Historically, for many people in the Northern hemisphere, August and late summer has been a time to slow down and recharge a bit, a chance to travel and escape routine. But this year, the pandemic changed our summer plans and most of us are stuck wherever we are. The word “vacation” is just a mental postcard. “Greetings from yesteryear! Wish you were here!” Fuhgeddaboudit! Even New York City, which sounds like an exciting place to the outside world, can become monotonous if you live here, and a feeling of wanderlust still pervades.

Even one of the most classic, dependably satisfying, instantly elegant cocktails—the Manhattan, which has endured since the 1870s—can feel a bit sluggish this time of year. But like the city it’s named for, it rises to challenges while retaining its core character. There are ways to take a Manhattan on a bit of a vacation without losing your way. Making some simple adjustments like changing up the base spirit or the modifiers (the vermouth), or lightening the bitters can make the drink feel like it’s gone places.

Here are three destinations (and… mini daytrips?) for a Manhattan road trip for when you still want the essential cocktail, but need a break in routine.

Use this classic Manhattan recipe as a home base

2 oz/60 ml whiskey, traditionally rye or bourbon but you could easily use Irish, Japanese, Scotch, etc. (or other base spirit of choice)
1 oz/30 ml sweet vermouth
2 dashes bitters, typically Angostura
garnish: cocktail cherry or lemon twist

Pre-chill a coupe or cocktail glass of choice. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well-chilled. Strain into glass and garnish.

If you prefer a slightly drier style, go with a Perfect Manhattan, which is how I often order mine.

Perfect Manhattan

2 oz/60 ml whiskey (or base spirit of choice)
.5 oz/15 ml sweet vermouth
.5 oz/15 ml dry vermouth
2 dashes bitters
garnish: cocktail cherry or lemon twist

As I state in my book New York Cocktails, technically it’s not wrong to serve a Manhattan on the rocks, which is delightful on a hot day, or shake it: “For all you purists ready to quote Thin Man lines at me, I admit it—many early recipes call for shaking your mix rather than stirring.”

Trust me, it’s better stirred. Many venues still insist on shaking as the default method of preparing every drink. Years ago, an incredibly well-meaning waiter placed a tepid glass of pink, frothy almost-borscht in front of me and declared, “I shook it myself!!!!!!” Bless his heart. That experience, one of many, taught me I had better remember to add “Stirred, please” to my standard order along with, “up and with a cherry, not a twist.”

More on that last bit later. Let’s get ourselves outta dodge!

Can’t wait to have a Manhattan at Keens again!

Juice up your bitters

Switching out bitters is perhaps one of the easiest and most effective ways to transform a basic Manhattan recipe, which I detail below. Cocktail bitters are often treated as an afterthought, but it’s amazing what a difference a bitter makes. They are KEY to a successful Manhattan, a necessary flavor component, a must-have. Think of them as you would a finishing spice—as essential as salt and pepper in a soup or stew. These days a good grocery or kitchen tools store (remember those? Luckily a few still exist) will carry a selection, and you can always order them online.

Bitter styles and how to use them:

Angostura, and other aromatic bitters (that’s an actual style or “flavor” within the category), will lend a sort of Worcestershire sauce element of umami and spice, which plays beautifully off sweet vermouth for balance. This is the default bitter for Manhattans and countless other drinks.
Fruit and tropical bitters will add a juicy flavor without the need for actual juice—they’re a secret weapon in stirred drinks.
Tiki and pimento bitters add a bit of sharp baking spice, almost like in a jerk chicken

Other types of bitters to take a flavor trip with a Manhattan:

Nut bitters, like toasted almond, cashew and black walnut
Savory or vegetal, like cucumber, celery or olive (Bitter Truth makes a good line of these)
Chocolate and cocoa
Florals, like lavender and orange blossom

Next, the recipe options:

Take the J Train to Spain

Scotch matured in casks that once held sherry is nothing new—sherry bodegas have been selling their used barrels to Scotland for this purpose for centuries. However, Nomad Outland Whisky spins that idea on its (sherry) butt. The whisky is produced in the Scotland Highlands, then sent to Jerez to mature in ex-fino, oloroso and Pedro Ximinez barrels at Gonzalez Byass (Tio Pepe), resting in the warm environs of southern Spain, instead of chilly, rainy Scotland, to complete its maturation.

Since Gonzalez Byass also produces exceptional vermouth from sherry grapes, it makes sense to craft a Perfect Manhattan entirely out of these products. The whisky already has quite a bit of fruitiness, so use even less of the sweet vermouth than you would normally for a Perfect Manhattan, and in this instance, I go for a twist—though don’t serve it IN the drink, just express the oils from the peel over it. Confession: this is a delicious drink, but those vermouths are so yummy I’m also happy sipping them on the rocks with a twist when not in Manhattan mode.

J Train to Spain

2 oz Nomad Outland Whisky
.75 oz Gonzalez Byass La Copa Extra Seco Vermouth (100% Palomino)
.25 oz Gonzalez Byass La Copa Rojo Vermouth (75% Palomino, 25% Pedro Ximinez)
3 dashes aromatic style cocktail bitters, like Copper & Kings
garnish: orange or lemon twist, expressed into drink and discarded

Rum Manhattan, qu’est-ce que c’est? (Rum, rum, rum, rum, rum, rum away!!!)

2020 was supposed to be the year I finally went someplace I could swim up to a bar and order a cold drink served in a coconut. Sigh.

But you know what’s really good in a Manhattan instead of whiskey? Rum. All kinds of rum. Even coconut rum, which is a variant that is leagues better these days than it used to be.

To me, nothing says, “out of office” to me quite like the taste of coconut. Sure I could make a Daiquiri or some other juicy drink with coconut rum, but I discovered in lockdown just how delicious a well made one is in a Manhattan variation.

The City Island

To make the City Island, prepare a standard Manhattan recipe with only sweet vermouth or an aromatized wine like Dubonnet Rouge, using either Thrasher’s Coconut Rum or Coconut Cartel Rum, both of which are at a full, flavorful 80 proof as opposed to typical coconut rums. Use a combination of fruit or tiki bitters instead of aromatic bitters. I like 2 dashes of Fee Toasted Almond with 2 of their lime bitters.

What are these rums?

Thrasher’s Coconut Rum ($35) is produced in Washington, DC at Potomac Distilling by Todd Thrasher, who got the flavor inspiration during a scuba diving trip to Barbados. The rum is not infused with coconut, as many are, but instead the coconut is heated to 165 degrees, then placed in a basket in the still over the warm rum distillate, which absorbs the vapors, similar to a gin process. “While I was certainly inspired to bring the tropical tastes of my days island hopping as a scuba dive instructor to DC, I also had the intention of creating a really unique coconut rum that was really versatile behind-the-bar,” says Thrasher, who is also a bartender. “Essentially all of the flavor, but a whole lot less of the sugar that is typically found with coconut rum! The rum derives its flavor from baby tai coconut flesh and toasted coconut--so it's actually deriving its unique taste from two different coconut flavors.”

Coconut Cartel (40% ABV, $38) grew out of a clandestine business founded in 2012 by siblings Dani and Mike Zig, who grew up in Central America with the experience of tasting fresh coconut and drinking fresh coconut water. They would smuggle coconuts from El Salvador and immediately supply the fresh coconut water to lux partygoers in Miami and the Hamptons. Dani Zig somehow got the idea to attempt using coconut water instead of regular water to bring rum down to proof. Coconut Cartel rum is made from aged Guatemalan rum (Zig says the rum is about 12 years old) produced at DARSA distillery, which is proofed with water from coconuts harvested less than 24 hours beforehand. The taste is remarkable--and this well-traveled rum is seriously good in a Manhattan!

Don’t like coconut? Take your Manhattan on a booze cruise with a robust, non-flavored rum like Havana Club 7 Year (40% ABV, around $25)—the real one from Cuba, if you have access—which makes me feel like I’ve just been to a European duty free shop. You would also do well to mix it with Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve (43% ABV, $30) or a maritime themed rhum agricole such as Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa (40% ABV, $65), or a not a rum, but a rum adjacent cachaça, such as Novo Fogo Calibri (42% ABV, $35).

Or it try with a rum-finished whisk(e)y. One of my favorites is Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask (43% ABV, $80). Yeah, it’s a pricey ingredient, but we’re on vacation, right? This Speyside Scotch, is matured in standard oak casks and then finished for a few months in barrels that once held Caribbean rum. It’s the perfect whisky for people who hate the heat and humidity of the tropics, and would be happier on a vacation to the cooler Scottish countryside, but still enjoy a taste of the islands. It works in both the Perfect and traditional Manhattan recipes. Use bitters with a bit of kick to them, such as Dale Degroff’s Pimento Bitters.

Ah, Italia

Sitting six feet apart at makeshift outdoor seating in New York City sidewalk parking spaces is not nearly the same experience as an outdoor café on a piazza in a city like Rome, Amalfi, Venice or Benevento. Those cities are historically set up for such experiences. I not only miss the scenery, pacing and people of Italy, I desperately miss the flavors. One way to recapture them, at least un po (a little), is by sipping one of the many excellent amari, liqueurs and cordials that are thankfully still imported stateside (more on the politics of that here), and they are superb in Manhattan variations.

My go-to ratio for Manhattans with a bite of amaro is to use slightly less of the whiskey or base spirit of choice, split the amaro with the sweet vermouth, and either skip the bitters entirely or use a fruity, nutty or chocolatey style. For these I ALWAYS garnish with a cherry.

This formula works quite well for a bitter Manhattan. You can also further split the amaro/cordial measurement between two flavors for even more complexity:

Bitter Manhattan

1.5 oz bourbon, rye or brandy (good American brandy like Copper & Kings, Germain-Robin or use a Cognac VS or VSOP)
.5 oz amaro or dry Italian cordial (Lucano, Varnelli Sibilla, Meletti, Ramazzotti, Sfumato Rababaro, Nonino Quintessentia, Ciaciaro, Montenegra, Strega, Luxardo Maraschino or Apricot, etc.)
.5 oz Italian red aromatized wine or vermouth (Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino, Martini & Rossi Riserva Speciale Rubino, etc.)
2 or 3 dashes chocolate, nut or fruit bitters, or a combination, if using

Not only do I miss Italy, but of course I miss bars, and I will dearly miss sipping a Little Italy cocktail at Pegu Club, which sadly closed for good this spring. Here is Audrey Saunder’s recipe for the Little Italy (watch out - it’s potent!), as shared with me for New York Cocktails.

Little Italy

Stir with ice, strain, garnish, remember the good times, and hope for new ones.

Cheers!