Adonis – Classic Recipe & History

adonis
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Adonis / Bamboo

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Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic Adonis/Bamboo cocktails

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Orange Bitters

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sherry

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sweet Vermouth

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.

Featured Video

History Of The Adonis Cocktail

The oldest printed recipe for the Adonis comes from the 1916 book “Jack’s Manual” by Jack Grohusko. The Adonis recipe in this book is 40% Sherry, 60% sweet vermouth, and 2 dashes of orange bitters. Though this recipe is older, a more authoritative source is the 1935 old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book by Albert Crockett. Crockett lists the recipe as 50×50 Sherry and sweet vermouth with orange bitters and states:

Named in honor of a theatrical offering which first made Henry E Dixey and Fanny Ward famous.

The play the author is talking about is an 1884 burlesque musical called “Adonis.” Written by, directed by, and starring Henry E. Dixey, Adonis was a famous play during its time. Interestingly, the bamboo recipe in Jack’s Manual and the Waldorf-Astoria is almost identical to the adonis. In the Waldorf-Astoria, is it the same drink. No difference at all.

The Adonis vs. The Bamboo Cocktail

The Adonis and Bamboo are the same drink with different names. In the 1935 Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, both recipes are the same. No difference at all. The same recipe copy pasted, which is fine. Just keep in mind they are the same. Some books will distinguish between the two by making the Adonis 2/3 sweet vermouth and 1/3 sherry and the Bamboo 50×50 sherry and sweet vermouth. But the Waldorf-Astoria listed them as the same drink with different names, and the Waldorf-Astoria was a very authoritative source of pre-prohibition recipes.

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Martini (Medium) – Classic Recipe & History

Martini Medium
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Martini (Medium)

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Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

163

kcal
ABV

29%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic medium/perfect martini

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Dry Vermouth

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Sweet Vermouth

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Dry Gin

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass. Express a lemon peel over the drink and discard the peel.
  • Garnish:
  • Spanish olive.

Notes

Featured Video

The Medium Martini, Also Known As The Perfect Martini.

The last of the three main martinis, the medium martini, is perfect and combines the flavors of both the sweet and dry martini. The oldest printed martini recipe I could find is in the 1888 edition of Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartender’s Manual. His original 1882 edition does not provide a recipe for the Martini. The original martini recipe appears between the late 1880s and 1890s and is essentially a pre-prohibition style Manhattan with Old Tom Gin instead of whiskey. Harry Johnson’s recipe is half Old Tom Gin, half sweet vermouth, a dash of orange liqueur, two Boker’s (cardamom) bitters, and two dashes of gum syrup. If you look at my original pre-prohibition style Manhattan recipe, they are almost the same, save for the Old Tom Gin. But the recipe begins to change over the next decade until it settles on the more generally accepted 2 oz Old Tom, 1 oz sweet vermouth, and a dash of orange bitters with an expressed lemon peel. This was the standard martini until the 1910s, when the martini’s dry variation was invented and became very popular. The original martini becomes known as a sweet martini, and a medium sweet version that combines the two is also made.

Now while most bartenders from the 1910s through to prohibition know of the sweet and dry martini (Not all, though, even books like Hoffman house from 1912 and Jack’s Manual from 1916 only have the sweet martini), not all seemed to do medium martinis. Hugo Ensslin’s 1917 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks only list the sweet and dry versions. It’s not till the mid-1920s that you start to see the medium martini recipe being printed—beginning in 1925, books like L’art du Shaker by Dominique Bristol first published a martini named the medium martini. The recipe for the medium martini is precisely the same regardless of the book. 1/2 dry gin, 1/4 dry vermouth, 1/4 sweet vermouth, and most do not have a garnish for this drink. The exception to this is the Waldorf-Astoria’s recipe which has an expressed lemon peel and Spanish olive like the dry martini.

I chose to go with the Waldorf-Astoria recipe because I like the lemon oil and olive as a garnish. I think it makes the drink better. If you ignore the garnish, the recipe for this cocktail is the same from 1920 to the 1970s (I don’t own a cocktail recipe book from the 1980s). Somewhere after the 1970s, this started to be called a perfect martini. I can’t find exactly when or by who, but the name perfect martini is standard today for a medium martini. For all 3 of my martini recipes, I chose to go with the Savoy naming structure for martinis because it is the most straightforward and concise.

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Double Barrel – Original Recipe & History

Double Barrel
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Double Barrel

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

152

kcal
ABV

25%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a Double Barrel

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Angostura Bitters

  • 2 dashes 2 Orange Bitters

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Vermouth

  • 1 oz 1 Rye Whiskey

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Maraschino cherries.

Notes

Featured Video

The Mighty Double Barrel Cocktail.

While not as alcoholic as a manhattan, it has much more flavor. For this cocktail, George Kappeler just put it all together. Both sweet and dry vermouth and both orange and angostura bitters. The recipe calls for just whiskey, but with all the herbal flavors in this cocktail, the spiciness of rye mixes well. Sadly this drink didn’t have much of a life outside of George Kappeler’s books and is absent from most any other book after. Give the Double Barrel a shot if you’re looking for a fantastic drink that was forgotten by time.

George Kappeler And The New York Holland House Hotel.

Like the Waldorf-Astoria, the Holland House Hotel in New York had one of the best bars in the country. Interestingly both hotels were right down the street from each other, Holland House on 30th and 5th, and the Waldorf-Astoria on 34th and 5th, the present-day location of the Empire State Building. Opened December 7th, 1891, the interior of the Holland house was considered its prized jewel. The New York Times in 1891 praised its beautiful carved marble interiors, ornate rooms, and mosaic floors and described the hotel as a marvel of bronze, marble, and glass work. Managing the hotel’s cafe and restaurant Bar was one of the top bartenders in the New York George Kappeler. He’s credited with inventing many famous cocktails, a few still popular today, and was the first to describe a classic whiskey cocktail as old-fashioned. He used the term old-fashioned to differentiate it from his other fancy and standard whiskey cocktails. George published his first cocktail book in 1895 and an updated second edition in 1906.

The good times did not last, though, and by the mid-1910s, most of the wealthy New York clients moved further north to park avenue, and the hotel started to fall on hard times. With the passing of the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act on January 17th, 1920, the hotel’s few remaining revenue streams dried up, and the hotel was sold. The Holland house closed that same year and was converted to an office building. The interior was gutted to make room for office spaces, and like the Waldorf-Astoria, a vital piece of American cocktail history was lost. Although, unlike the Waldorf-Astoria, the building is still standing on 30th and 5th next to Marble Collegiate Church. The grand interior is long gone, but it’s still fun to see the façade of the once-great Holland House.

Using The Right Ingredients.

Vermouth is always essential and worth sending a little more to get a quality product, but your whiskey will have the most significant impact on this cocktail. George Kappeler only wrote to use whiskey, but I feel a nice spicy rye whiskey with a bit of burn works well here. Bourbon is good, but it is too sweet and gets lost in the mix. The strong herbal wine flavors of the vermouth, the earthy angostura bitters, and citrusy orange bitters are better balanced by spicy rye. Also, since it’s only 1 ounce of whiskey, it needs to be stronger and have some burn to offset the 2 ounces of vermouth.

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Vieux Carré – Original Recipe & History

Vieux Carre
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Quick Step-By-Step Vieux Carre Recipe Video

Vieux Carre

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

144

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Vieux Carre.

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Angostura Bitters

  • 2 dashes 2 Peychauds Bitters

  • 1 tsp 1 Benedictine

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Sweet Vermouth

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Brandy

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Rye Whiskey

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • dd ice to the mixing glass. Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon peel

Recipe Video

Notes

The History Of The Vieux Carré.

The Vieux Carré was invented sometime in the 1930s by Walter Bergeron, the head bartender at the Hotel Monteleone’s cocktail lounge In New Orleans. It was first published in the 1937 book “Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix ‘em” by Stanley Clisby Arthur. The Vieux Carré is a beautiful cocktail that is both strong and herbal. It’s similar but much more complex than the famed New Orleans Sazerac. It’s hard to describe this cocktail without trying, but if herbaceous solid drinks are your thing, this is a must-try.

What Does Vieux Carré Mean?

Vieux Carre translates to “The Old Square,” referring to the New Orleans French Quarter. New Orleans is one of my absolute favorite places. Its history is both fantastic and terrifying. Many iron-laced balconies date back to the 1700s and predate the United States. You can drink at the same bars generals planned battles at and experience some of the oldest American histories. Not as museum pieces behind glass just to be seen, but by actually walking the halls, eating at the same tables, ordering at the same bars, and living in the same spaces, many historical events happened.

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Tequila Manhattan – Recipe

Tequila Manhattan Cocktail
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Tequila Manhattan

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

193

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Tequila Manhattan.

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Angostura Bitters

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 2 oz 2 Anejo Tequila

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Maraschino cherry

Notes

Featured Video

A modern variation of the classic Manhattan, this one substitutes bourbon for Anejo tequila. This is a delicious cocktail, and if you’re a tequila fan, this is worth a try. Be sure to use Anejo(old) tequila. Reposado is ok but not great, and silver or gold tequila is not good in this cocktail. It can only be Anejo.

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Star – Classic Recipe & History

star
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Star Cocktail

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

182

kcal
ABV

26%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic Star Cocktail

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Peychaud’s Bitters

  • 1 tsp 1 Gum Syrup

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sweet Vermouth

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Brandy

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon peel.

Notes

Featured Video

First appearing in 1895, this drink initially used gum syrup to sweeten it, but simple syrup works. This is a delicious drink but doesn’t take my word for it, make it yourself.

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Ideal Cocktail – Classic Savoy Recipe

Ideal Cocktail Savoy
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Ideal Cocktail

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

214

kcal
ABV

27%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Ideal Cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Grapefruit Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 3 dashes 3 Maraschino Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Dry Gin

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Grapefruit peel

Notes

Featured Video

The Variations Of The Ideal Cocktail.

First printed in the 1917 Hugo Ensslin book Recipes For Mixed Drinks, there are three main variations of the ideal cocktail. 1). The original 1917 Hugo Ensslin Recipe. 2). The 1933 Sloppy Joe’s recipe. 3). The 1934 Savoy Cocktail Book recipe. This is the Savoy recipe, but the Sloppy Joe’s recipe from Cuba is delicious. The ideal strikes a perfect mix of gin, dry vermouth, and grapefruit juice, and both the savoy and Sloppy Joes recipes are very similar. The odd one out is the Hugo Ensslin one, as it omits grapefruit juice and instead uses a slice of actual grapefruit in the cocktail.

What Does The Ideal Cocktail Taste Like?

I don’t know how to describe this one. It’s perfect; just hard to compare it to others. It’s like a daiquiri that’s not sweet and more tart and herbal than citrus. Even that is a poor description, but those are the primary flavors. Even though it’s mostly gin, the sweet vermouth and grapefruit are what shine.

Keep This In Mind For The Ingredients.

The essential ingredient in this cocktail is the sweet vermouth and the grapefruit juice. This cocktail’s good vermouth goes a long way and adds a nice flavor than a nicer gin will. Also, only use pink or ruby red grapefruit juice in this cocktail (any cocktail, really). White grapefruit is just way too tart, but the pink and red ones are a nice balance of tartness and sweetness. Also, the pink and red grapefruits have a better flavor. Between the pink and red kind, you can use either one. Both have a similar taste, but the red is sweeter than the pink ones. So if you want to make the drink a little bit sweeter, use ruby red grapefruit juice, and if you want the glass to be a little more tart, use pink grapefruit juice.

A Short History Of The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel In London.

In 1893, The American Bar at the Savoy hotel started serving American-style cocktails in London to the British upper class. The American Bar has always been a high-end bar but what set it on the map was when Harry Craddock became its head bartender in the 1920s. Harry Craddock was a British-born bartender who immigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a US citizen and head bartender of several high-end hotel bars. Still, Harry found himself out of work with the start of prohibition in 1920. He then immigrated back to England and became head bartender of the Savoy Hotel’s Bar. Harry transformed The American Bar from a high-end bar to one of the seminal cocktail bars of the 20th century. As the American prohibition ended, the hotel realized it should record all of its most famous recipes and the innovations Harry brought to the bar. A year later, they published the Savoy Cocktail Book. Printed in 1934, the Savoy Cocktail Book documents the bar’s best recipes from the 1890s to the 1930s and stands as the pillar of prohibition-era European cocktail innovation. If Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide is the best cocktail book the 1800s gave us, then The Savoy Cocktail Book is the best cocktail book of the first half of the 1900s. I don’t think I will ever be able to drink there, though. A cocktail cost around $250 there, and they have one that’s almost $1000, and I’m not the Amazon guy, so good thing we have their recipe book.

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Satan’s Whiskers – Original Recipe

Satan's Whiskers Cocktail
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Satan’s Whiskers

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: British
Servings

1

servings
Calories

229

kcal
ABV

20%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Satan’s Whiskers.

Ingredients

  • 1 dash 1 Orange Bitters

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Vermouth

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Gin

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.

Notes

Featured Video

What Does The Satan’s Whiskers Taste Like?

This is a very herbal and orange-flavored cocktail. It’s good, but it reminds me of a solid and herbal screwdriver or calvados cocktails. So if that sounds good to you, then the satan’s whiskers is right up your alley.

A Short History Of The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel In London.

Opened in 1893 The American Bar at the Savoy hotel started serving American style cocktails in London to the British upperclass. The American Bar has always been a high end bar but what really set it on the map was when Harry CraddoIn 1893, The American Bar at the Savoy hotel started serving American-style cocktails in London to the British upper class. The American Bar has always been a high-end bar but what set it on the map was when Harry Craddock became its head bartender in the 1920s. Harry Craddock was a British-born bartender who immigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a US citizen and head bartender of several high-end hotel bars. Still, Harry found himself out of work with the start of prohibition in 1920. He then immigrated back to England and became head bartender of the Savoy Hotel’s Bar. Harry transformed The American Bar from a high-end bar to one of the seminal cocktail bars of the 20th century. As the American prohibition was ending, the hotel realized it should record all of its most famous recipes and the innovations Harry brought to the bar. A year later, they published the Savoy Cocktail Book. Printed in 1934, the Savoy Cocktail Book documents the bar’s best recipes from the 1890s to the 1930s and stands as the pillar of prohibition-era European cocktail innovation. If Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide is the best cocktail book the 1800s gave us, then The Savoy Cocktail Book is the best cocktail book of the first half of the 1900s. I don’t think I will ever be able to drink there, though. A cocktail cost around $250 there, and they have one that’s almost $1000, and I’m not the Amazon guy, so good thing we have their recipe book. ck became it’s head bartender in the 1920s. Harry Craddock was a British born bartender who immigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a US citizen and head bartender of several high end hotel bars, but Harry found himself out of work with the start of prohibition in 1920. He then immigrated back to England and became head bartender of the Savoy Hotel’s Bar. Harry transformed The American Bar from a high end bar to one of the seminal cocktail bars of the 20th century. As the american prohibition was coming to an end the hotel realized it should record all of its most famous recipes and the innovations Harry brought to the bar and a year later they published the Savoy Cocktail Book. Printed in 1934 The Savoy Cocktail Book documents all of the bars best recipes from the 1890s to the 1930s and stands as the pillar of prohibition-era, European cocktail innovation. If Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide is the best cocktail book the 1800s gave us, then The Savoy Cocktail Book is the best cocktail book of the first half of the 1900s. I don’t think I will ever be able to drink there though. A cocktail cost around $250 there and they have one that’s almost $1000, and I’m not the Amazon guy, so good thing we have their recipe book.

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Rob Roy – Classic Recipe & History

Rob Roy
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Rob Roy

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

193

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the classic Rob Roy.

Ingredients

  • 1 dash 1 Orange Bitters

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sweet Vermouth

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Scotch

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Maraschino cherry.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Rob Roy Cocktail.

The earliest known Rob Roy recipe comes from the 1908 Boothby book “The Worlds Drinks and How to Mix Them” Boothby credits the cocktail to Johnny Kent of San Francisco. His recipe is a scotch, dry vermouth, and angostura bitters cocktail, which is very good. The more common recipe is the Waldorf-Astoria recipe which is 1:1 scotch and sweet vermouth with orange bitters. Other than scotch, the two recipes are entirely different. Both are fantastic cocktails, and even though the Waldorf-Astoria recipe is more popular, the Boothby recipe is worth trying.

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Manhattan – Original Recipe & History

Pre-Prohibition Manhattan Cocktail
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Pre-Prohibition Manhattan

4 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

198

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a pre-prohibition style Manhattan cocktail

Ingredients

  • 3 dashes 3 Cardamom Bitters

  • 2 dashes 2 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon peel.

Recipe Video

Notes

Featured Video

The History of The Manhattan.

The Manhattan most people think of when they order a Manhattan today is the post-prohibition style Manhattan. Bourbon, sweet vermouth, and angostura bitters. An excellent pairing of flavors, but had you ordered a Manhattan from the 1880s to 1919, you would have been served this cocktail instead. The oldest printed reference to the manhattan cocktail I can find is from August 31, 1882, Crawford Avalanche newspaper of Michigan and the December 4, 1883, Evening Star newspaper of Washington DC. The bartender interviewed in the Crawford newspaper mentions that he was the first to introduce “Manhattan cocktails” to the area, and he likes to make his with “whiskey, vermouth, and bitters” The bartender in the DC newspaper says he pre-batches them with gin and vermouth. Both newspapers refer to a new Manhattan style of cocktail currently in vogue and talk about it as if it is a style rather than a specific drink. A few years later, both newspaper and cocktail books seem to have settled on the Manhattan as specifically a whiskey cocktail. This Manhattan recipe is pulled from the 1887 Jerry Thomas Bartenders Guide. This is the oldest printing I could find from a cocktail recipe book. The Manhattan remained unchanged until 1919, as documented in the Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, which reported all their recipes from 1897 to 1919.

The two changes that changed the Manhattan from its pre-prohibition to post-prohibition form are changing from Boker’s bitters to Angostura bitters and no longer adding two dashes of orange liqueur. The recipe changed from using Boker’s bitters because the Boker’s company, which was already struggling financially by the 1910s, completely closed its doors around the start of prohibition. Those who knew the secret recipe took it to their graves. I believe in the mid-2000s, an old unopened bottle of Boker’s was found in a recently deceased man’s attic. The mixture was reverse engineered, and it was discovered to be primarily cardamom, cinnamon, and orange peel bitter. You are now able to find cardamom bitters made in the Boker’s style, but for almost 90 years, the closest anyone could get was using Angostura Bitters. The second change was removing the two dashes of orange liqueur. This change had more to do with the transition from pre-prohibition mixing ideologies to the prohibition era and post-prohibition mixing ideologies. The hallmark of pre-prohibition mixing ideology was to take a decent base spirit and add complexity and flavor with small amounts of bitters and liqueurs, with the base spirit still the most forward element. Prohibition-era and post-prohibition mixing ideology shifted to making flavorful cocktails where the base spirit blended in with the sodas or liqueurs. Not to say these styles were exclusive to any period, but there was a definite shift in what was popular and sold.

I cannot find any specific genesis of the Manhattan or who maybe created it. Often with very old cocktails, the creators were never credited, and many people claim they invented the drink. I can’t find any reference to it before the 1880s, and it was most likely created in New York. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was trendy to name drinks after cities or popular locations in New York. This is what gives us cocktails like the Bronx, the Oyster Bay, Brooklyn, etc. So there is no real reason it’s called a Manhattan other than being a famous New York cocktail naming convention of its time.

What Does The Pre-Prohibition Manhattan Taste Like?

Bourbon and Sweet Vermouth are a match made in heaven. The two ingredients’ flavor profiles pair perfectly. The sweet vermouth adds just enough sweetness to soften the bourbon, and the bourbon adds just enough sharp toasted oak volume and flavor to bring down the vermouth’s solid herbal notes. A few dashes of orange liqueur and cardamon bitters add a nice gentle citrus and spice complexity to the cocktail that Angostura bitters do not provide. These are all wonderful ingredients, and combined; they make a wonderfully sweet and spicy cocktail. I like the modern Angostura bitters Manhattan better, but this one is also tasty. If I were to equate the two to sipping spirits, I would say the original pre-prohibition one is like sipping rye whiskey, and the current one everyone knows it is like sipping bourbon.

What Is The Difference Between The Manhattan And The Old Fashioned?

Whether it’s the pre-prohibition or post-prohibition style, the Manhattan and old fashion are, for the most part, very similar cocktails. The main difference between the two is since the old-fashioned uses simple syrup/gum syrup to cut the strength of the bourbon; the taste is still a very clean, bourbon forward cocktail. On the other hand, the Manhattan comes across with a more mild bourbon taste that is balanced against a lightly sweet herbal flavor. So the Manhattan is a slightly sweetened bourbon and herbal flavored cocktail, and the old fashion is a somewhat sweeter but clean bourbon tasting cocktail.

Get The Sweet Vermouth Right.

The most essential ingredients in the pre-prohibition style Manhattan are the sweet vermouth and the cardamom bitters. Boker’s Bitters was one of the quintessential tastes of the 1800s cocktail, and you can finally get that flavor again with cardamom bitters. It’s like tasting history. A little bit more than the bitters, though, is the sweet vermouth. Vermouth is the defining flavor of this cocktail, and for not much more, you can buy some fantastic sweet vermouths. There isn’t a “bad” sweet vermouth, the cheap stuff is still pretty good, but for five bucks more, you can buy some fantastic top-shelf vermouths that will elevate this cocktail to new heights.

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