The Perfect Manhattan
Amateur mixologists will argue forever about how to perfect a Martini—and it usually has something to do with using as little vermouth as possible. But with the drink called a Perfect Manhattan there is no such dispute. A Manhattan becomes flawless when it finds the perfect sugar balance: that is, equal parts sweet vermouth and dry vermouth. That’s not to say that the standard Manhattan (two parts whiskey, one part sweet vermouth, dash of Angostura bitters) is Imperfect. Think of it as the Pluperfect, or Past Perfect, Manhattan, the template for all aromatized cocktails since the 1870s.
Rat Pack-era drinkers sought a dryer version of the drink. But unlike a dry Martini, which is made with less vermouth and more gin, Manhattan lovers still wanted their full dose of aperitif, just not as sweet. So a new term was in order, and a Perfect Manhattan became, essentially, a medium-dry Manhattan, maintaining the ratio of vermouth while splitting its proportions equally between sweet and dry. You can change the whisky from Bourbon to rye to Canadian, but the vermouth has to show up. (If you want a whiskey cocktail with no vermouth, just ask for “Bourbon neat.”)
Because it’s so adjustable, at home you can make an entire Manhattan project out of meting out portions according to taste as you search out the Future Perfect Manhattan. But in a bar setting, the Perfect Manhattan is a useful shorthand—a compromise between sweet and dry that is about as exacting as you want to get. After all, giving overly complex instructions to a bartender doesn’t make you seem sophisticated. It makes you the jerk who’s holding up the drink orders. Save your specifics for the garnish: cherry or a twist.
