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Vertical view of the short glass with a red cherry and the cocktail - square
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Bourbon Manhattan Cocktail

This easy and delicious Manhattan cocktail will make you feel like you are on the set of Mad Men
Course Cocktail
Cuisine Cocktails
Keyword bourbon manhattan, bourbon manhattan cocktail
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 2 cocktails
Calories 210kcal
Author Elaine Benoit

Equipment

Ingredients

Cocktail

  • 4 ounces bourbon
  • 2 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 5 drops Woodford Reserves bitters (see notes and tips as I use 10 drops for 2 cocktails)

Garnish

Instructions

  • Fill a cocktail shaker 1/2 way with ice
  • Add bourbon, sweet vermouth and the dashes of bitters
    4 ounces bourbon, 2 ounce sweet vermouth, 5 drops Woodford Reserves bitters
  • Cap the shaker and shake for 20 seconds
  • Place an ice cube in the old fashioned glass and strain and divide the liquid between the two glasses
  • Plop the cherries in each drink
    2 maraschino cherries
  • Sip
  • Smile
  • Enjoy

Video

Notes

Helpful tips
  • Although I like to use a cocktail shaker, you can also place the ingredients in a mixing glass and stir it with a cocktail spoon.
  • Buy the best bourbon you can afford for this cocktail because in a cocktail like this since there are basically only 2 ingredients which means you can more easily taste the difference.
  • If you can, get some fun bitters. I purchased Woodford Reserve flavored bitters. The package arrived with 4 different flavors: spiced cherry, orange, aromatic and chocolate. I've used them all and they're delightful, but my favorite is spiced cherry. This recipe calls for 5 drops for two cocktails, but I usually use 10 for two drinks. You need to play around with the amount of bitters to see what suits you.
  • If you don't have fancy bitters, it's perfectly fine to use Angostura or an orange bitters.
  • You can serve this Manhattan straight up or on the rocks.  I like mine straight up and served in a martini glass.   My mother used to drink her Manhattans on the rocks.
  • Whenever I use maraschino cherries as garnish, I rinse them off so the juice they are stored in doesn't infiltrate the cocktail.
  • If you'd like to, you can garnish this drink with an orange peel, but I like it with just a maraschino cherry.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Sugar: 2g