Dry Manhattan
The Manhattan, crisp and lean.
The Manhattan in its dry form: dry vermouth replaces the sweet red and a lemon twist stands in for the cherry. The result is drier and sharper, letting the spice of the rye take centre stage.
- Aperitif
- Stirred
- Glass
- Cocktail glass
- Method
- Stirred
- Strength
- Strong
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Rye whiskey
50 ml
-
Dry vermouth
20 ml
-
Angostura bitters
1 dash
Garnish
- Lemon twist
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice.
- Pour the rye whiskey.
- Pour the dry vermouth.
- Add a dash of Angostura bitters.
- Stir well.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Express the lemon twist over the drink and drop it in.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
The Dry Manhattan is as old as the Manhattan itself. As early as 1884, O.H. Byron's guide, which holds the first full Manhattan recipe, offered two versions: one with Italian, sweet vermouth and one with French, dry vermouth. There is therefore no inventor of the dry version, born simply by changing the type of vermouth. Over time the variation settled on dry vermouth with a lemon twist in place of the cherry. For years the IBA listed the Manhattan Dry and Manhattan Perfect as separate entries; only the classic Manhattan remains on the current list.
Sources (7)
- Wikipedia — Manhattan (cocktail) (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- IBA — Manhattan (base recipe and proportions) (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Diageo Bar Academy — Manhattan Dry (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Difford's Guide — Manhattan (Dry) (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Wikipedia — List of IBA official cocktails (opens in a new tab) recipe
- IBA — All cocktails (page 3): no Manhattan Dry (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Difford's Guide — Manhattan cocktail history (opens in a new tab) history
Taste profile
- Strong
- 4 out of 5
- Dry
- 4 out of 5
- Herbal
- 2 out of 5
- Citrus
- 1 out of 5
