Ever wonder which Manhattan is best? How different can they be? Is there a non-alcoholic version that can blend in with the crowd, especially since there is nowhere to hide in this classic 3 ingredient drink? Is it better with bourbon or rye? Is it better with vermouth or amaro? To answer these questions, we decided to test 8 recipes, blind, all at the same time, to rank them in order from best to least. And here’s what we found…
Recounting the Tale
The most widely accepted story of the creation of the Manhattan cocktail is that it was invented at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the mid-1870s. The club was said to be hosting a banquet for presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden, and bartender Iain Marshall was tasked with creating a special drink for the occasion.
Marshall mixed together whiskey, vermouth, and bitters, and served the drink in a chilled glass. The drink was a hit with the guests, and it quickly became popular at the Manhattan Club and beyond.
Another story of the Manhattan’s creation is that it was invented by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street. Some of the earliest records of the cocktail can be found in Charlie Paul’s American and other Drinks and O.H. Byron’s The Modern Bartender’s Guide, both written in 1884. Paul describes it containing “three or four drops of angostura bitters, ditto of plain syrup; add half a liqueur glass of vermouth, half wine glassful of Scotch whiskey” and garnished with lemon. Byron describes two versions, one with French vermouth and the other with Italian.
Regardless of who or where it was invented, the Manhattan quickly became one of the most popular cocktails in the world and we’ve found a few recipes that touch on the different historical notes above.
Methodology
Cocktails are commonly judged in competitions based on name, appearance, balance, simplicity, taste, aroma, and originality. Though I am a firm believer in the expression “we taste with our eyes,” I wanted to strip these tastings down to answering one question… “Which base cocktail tastes the best, to the most people, without knowing anything about it?”
- 10 tasters
- 8 manhattan recipes
- All cocktails were made within minutes of each other to allow for side by side tastings, since cocktails can change dramatically over time (as things like temperature and dilution change)
- All cocktails were stirred and strained
- All cocktails were served in identical glassware and without garnish
- Each taster ranked each cocktail in order from worst to best for overall flavor, with additional tasting notes on each
- All cocktails were measured strictly according to the recipe instructions but omitted any garnish or ice serving instructions as to keep each cocktail as identical in appearance as possible
Ingredients
- rye whiskey (rittenhouse rye and wild turkey 101 rye)
- bourbon (four roses small batch)
- scotch (laphroaig single malt)
- dry vermouth (carpano antica formula)
- sweet vermouth (carpano antica formula)
- sweet vermouth (zero proof)
- bourbon (zero proof)
- apricot liquer
- tawny port
- cherry heering
- amaro nonino
- amaro averna
- amaro ramazzotti
- allspice liqueur
- angostura bitters
- peychaud’s bitters
- orange bitters
- walnut bitters
- orange bitters zero proof
- aromatic bitters zero proof
- saline solution
Selection
This is admittedly the most difficult part of the entire process. After investigating many different recipes and variations, I used the following logic (or perhaps to some, lack thereof) to guide my selection.
- 1 Toasty Bird Original, selfishly, to force continued experimentation (Toasty Bird)
- 1 with a hint of smoke, to pay homage to the Charlie Paul origin story (Imbibe/The Bartenders Manifesto)
- 1 top search result that anyone looking for a manhattan recipe might stumble upon online and that you’ll find in most bars (Food and Wine)
- 1 published winning recipe from another blind taste off among highly accredited bartenders (Punch/Jeremy Oertel)
- 1 non-alcoholic (Kevin Kos/Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks)
- 1 lighter, fruit forward variation or ruby manhattan (Difford’s)
- 1 more complex, spice forward variation or riff on a black manhattan (Stir and Strain)
- 1 lighter, citrus forward variation or uptown manhattan (Cocktail Virgin Slut)
The Toast
“To Veterans Day and those who served. To Aaron for hosting. And to all of you. Thank you for coming and I look forward to many more toast-offs to come. Cheers!” – Kyle Allbright
Results
And finally, what you came for… the blind manhattan tasting insights and rankings! Be sure to read the full tasting notes as well to find the right cocktail for you (i.e. your favorite may not always align with the “best” group vote if you tend to prefer your cocktails sweeter, more acidic, without a specific ingredient, etc.).
Though it’s impossible to claim any sort of statistically significant insights from a sample size of 10, here’s what we found:
- The most expensive drink by far (and surprisingly was non-alcoholic) was voted last place, while the rest of the line up were comparable
- Food and Wine’s Manhattan recipe is about as classic as it gets and it shows, as it took the top spot with tasters thinking it was sweet, balanced, and vermouth forward
- In a close second place, was a riff on the black manhattan from Stir and Strain, where amaro and allspice dram are used instead of vermouth which left tasters thinking it was a bit more syrupy, medicinal, and spice forward
- The non-alcoholic recipe by Kevin Kos, inspired by the book Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks, was unsurprisingly last as it had a noticeably lighter body than the rest of the line up
- Perhaps surprisingly, the winner of the Punch blind manhattan tasting (a recipe from Jeremy Oertel/Death&Co.), and one I frequently make at home, came 3rd to last
- Lastly, the Toasty Bird Original was the most polarizing drink, making it in the top 2 for 4 tasters and the bottom 2 for 4 tasters, likely due to the increased ratio or bourbon to vermouth compared to the rest
Food and Wine:
- Best for: Classic Occasions
- Pros:
- Timeless, classic flavor profile
- Sweet and aromatic
- Cons:
- May be too sweet for some palates
- Vermouth-forward taste might overpower the whiskey
- Pros:
Stir and Strain:
- Best for: Spiced and Sweet Flavors
- Pros:
- Complex flavor profile with hints of raisin and spice
- Sweet and smooth
- Cons:
- May be too sweet or medicinal for some tastes
- Complex ingredients might be difficult to source
- Pros:
Cocktail Virgin Slut:
- Best for: Whiskey Lovers
- Pros:
- Strong whiskey flavor
- Balanced with a touch of sweetness
- Cons:
- Some may find it too strong or medicinal
- Requires specific ingredients like Amaro Nonino and Cherry Heering
- Pros:
Toasty Bird Original:
- Best for: Balanced Profiles
- Pros:
- Balanced flavor profile reminiscent of a classic Manhattan
- Warm vanilla notes
- Cons:
- Some may find it slightly harsh or medicinal
- Strong vanilla flavor may overpower other ingredients
- Pros:
Imbibe/The Bartenders Manifesto:
- Best for: Smoky and Medicinal Tastes
- Pros:
- Bold and smoky flavor profile
- Complex with notes of tobacco and peat moss
- Cons:
- May be too intense for some palates
- Requires specific ingredients like Laphroaig single malt scotch
- Pros:
Punch/Jeremy Oertel:
- Best for: Sweet and Spiced Palates
- Pros:
- Sweet and aromatic with hints of butterscotch
- Classic flavor profile reminiscent of a traditional Manhattan
- Cons:
- Some may find it too sweet or heavy on the vermouth
- Requires specific ingredients like Rittenhouse Rye and Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
- Pros:
Difford’s:
- Best for: Fruity and Floral Notes
- Pros:
- Light and floral with hints of cherry and apricot
- Complex flavor profile with a touch of sweetness
- Cons:
- Some may find it too sweet or reminiscent of cough syrup
- Requires specific ingredients like tawny port and apricot liqueur
- Pros:
Kevin Kos:
- Best for: Bitter and Spicy Preferences
- Pros:
- Complex flavor profile with notes of caramel, apple, and grapefruit bitters
- Bitter and spicy with hints of vanilla and cinnamon
- Cons:
- May be too bitter for some palates
- Non-alcoholic version might not appeal to all cocktail enthusiasts
- Pros:
| Rank | Recipe Source | Taster Notes | Ingredients |
| 1 | Food and Wine | – regular – sweet, vermouth forward – sweet – classic – plain, vermouth forward – standard manhattan – regular, balanced – heavy vermouth, sweet smell, similar to 2 | 2 ounces rye whiskey 1 ounce Carpano Antica Formula or other sweet vermouth 2 dashes Angostura bitters |
| 2 | Stir and Strain | – sweeter, raisin – amaro, spice, sweeter – sweet, smooth – cough medicine – gingery, caramel, syrupy, funky – sweet – sweet, too sweet? – too sweet, funky – sweet but boozy, I like this one! | 2 ounces Rye 1 ounces Averna 0.5 ounces Allspice Liqueur 1 dash Angostura bitters, or another aromatic bitters 1 dash orange bitters 0.5 ounce water |
| 3 | Cocktail Virgin Slut | – regular – strong end, sweet, medicinal – strong, more whiskey flavor – dry, vermouth – cake, easy, light caramel – general – sweet, apricot? – light color | 2 ounces bourbon (Four Roses) 0.75 ounce Amaro Nonino 1 tsp Cherry Heering 2 dashes Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange) |
| 4 | Toasty Bird Original | – regular – classic, balanced – strong vanilla flavor, too much? – good, dry – similar to 4 – sweetish, regular – same as 3, normal manhattan – little harsh, cough | 3 ounces bourbon (Makers Mark) 0.5 ounce dry vermouth 0.5 ounce sweet vermouth 2 dashes angostura bitters 1 dash walnut bitters |
| 5 | Imbibe/The Bartenders Manifesto | – scotch – spice, tobacco, peat moss – smoky – smoky – smoky, mushroom, date, vermouth, shoe – smoky – smoky, scotch – medicine, smoke, scotch, rob roy – smoky, too much vermouth? | 2 ounce rye whiksey (Wild Turkey 101) 0.125 ounce scotch (Laphroaig single malt) 1 ounce Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth 0.5 ounce ramazzotti amaro 17 drops orange bitters |
| 6 | Punch/Jeremy Oertel | – light, vanilla – sweet vermouth, rye, classic – weird flavor – birthday cake – butterscotch, funky – no – lighter – too much vermouth, rye! – classic, butterscotch or something | 2.5 ounces Rittenhouse Rye 1 ounce Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth 2 dashes angostura bitters |
| 7 | Difford’s | – light – floral, funky – cherry, apricot, desert wine – some weird flavor – good, sweet, sugary – peach – floral, sweet – cherry, cough syrup – fruity, some kind of candy | 1.5 ounce straight rye whiskey (100 proof) 1 ounce tawny port 0.25 ounce apricot liquer 2 dashes peychauds bitters |
| 8 | Kevin Kos | – caramel, apple, grapefruit bitters? – bitter, anise, spice, vanilla, cinnamon – too bitter, yuck – bad – apple pie, non-alcoholic, bitter, tanic – cider – bitter, cider – spices, non-alcoholic – light, cider, non-alcoholic? | 90mL (3 ounces) Zero Bourbon 45mL (1.5 ounces) Zero Sweet Vermouth 2 dashes Zero Aromatic Bitters 1 dash Zero Orange Bitters 2 drops Saline Solution Cocktail Cherry |