Metropolitan
The brandy Manhattan.
A nineteenth-century classic closely related to the Manhattan: brandy and sweet vermouth, with the vermouth leading, bound by a few dashes of Angostura. Smooth, aromatic and gentler than it looks.
- Aperitif
- Stirred
- Glass
- Coupe
- Method
- Stirred
- Strength
- Medium
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Brandy
25 ml
-
Sweet red vermouth
50 ml
-
Simple syrup (optional)
5 ml
-
Angostura bitters
3 dashes
Garnish
- Lemon twist
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a coupe.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice.
- Pour the brandy.
- Add the sweet red vermouth.
- Add the syrup if you want it sweeter.
- Add three dashes of Angostura.
- Stir until well chilled.
- Strain into the chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lemon zest.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
The Metropolitan first appears in 1884 in O. H. Byron's The Modern Bartenders' Guide, published in New York, right below two versions of the Manhattan: brandy, twice as much French vermouth, gum syrup and Angostura, served in a small wine glass. Its inventor is unknown. Around the mid-1890s George Kappeler turned it into an equal-parts drink with a lemon twist. In the 1910s Hugo Ensslin used Italian, that is sweet, vermouth, bringing it closer to the brandy Manhattans: this is the version best known today. The same name is also used for an unrelated 1993 drink made with blackcurrant vodka and cranberry.
Sources (4)
Taste profile
- Sweet
- 3 out of 5
- Herbal
- 3 out of 5
- Strong
- 3 out of 5
- Bitter
- 2 out of 5
