Manhattan
The Manhattan combines whiskey, vermouth and bitters, with rye in the International Bartenders Association’s specification. Its first known printed mention dates to 1882, but its creator is not reliably established: the familiar story about Jennie Jerome and a Manhattan Club banquet is a legend, not a documented origin.[8][2][1]
Making a Manhattan
The IBA’s recipe is a useful starting point because it gives a precise, repeatable specification. It is one recognised version, not a formula that every historical Manhattan followed.[8][3][4]
Recipe card: IBA Manhattan
Source: International Bartenders Association, Manhattan.[8]
Origin: Disputed; the creator is not reliably established.
Serves: One
Glass: Chilled cocktail glass
Ice: Ice for stirring
Garnish: Cocktail cherry
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Rye whiskey | 50 ml (about 1.7 fl oz) |
| Sweet red vermouth | 20 ml (about 0.7 fl oz) |
| Angostura bitters | 1 dash |
- Put the whiskey, vermouth and bitters into a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir with the ice.
- Strain into the chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a cocktail cherry.[8]
Use a measured serving, with water, food and breaks alongside it. Nobody needs to finish the glass, and these measures do not remove the risks of drinking alcohol.
There is no need to add syrup or a liqueur to reproduce this particular specification. Those ingredients do appear in older recipes, however, so encountering them in a historical Manhattan is not evidence that the bartender misunderstood the drink.[8][3][4]
Whiskey, vermouth and changing proportions
Rye is traditional according to Britannica, and it is the whiskey specified by the IBA. Bourbon also has a documented place: the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails reports an 1891 Boston Herald description of a Manhattan with a bourbon foundation.[9][8][1]
The proportions have never been quite as fixed as a modern recipe card might suggest. Britannica describes traditional recipes at two parts whiskey to one part vermouth, followed by later preferences for three to one and four to one; the IBA’s 50 ml to 20 ml specification sits between the first two ratios.[9][8]
Earlier books show how much room vermouth once occupied. These are historical specifications, not instructions to substitute modern measures for the books’ different glass sizes.
| Published recipe | What the book specifies |
|---|---|
| Byron, 1884, No. 2 | Equal quantities of whisky and Italian vermouth, with curaçao and Angostura bitters.[3] |
| Thomas, 1887 | A pony of rye whiskey and a wine-glass of vermouth, with Boker’s bitters and curaçao or maraschino.[4] |
| Proulx, 1888 | Half vermouth and half whisky, made like another cocktail but without absinthe.[5] |
| Kappeler, 1895 | Equal half-jiggers of whiskey and Italian vermouth, with gum syrup and bitters.[6] |
The practical lesson is to identify the recipe before judging its balance. A vermouth-forward Manhattan may be following an older model rather than departing from tradition; a whiskey-heavy version represents another point in the drink’s development.[4][5][9]
Origin: story and record
The Oxford Companion places the Manhattan’s creation in the 1870s or early 1880s, probably in New York City. It calls it the first “modern” cocktail because it added aromatised fortified wine, vermouth, to the Whisky Cocktail.[1]
Story box: A cocktail with three names
Founding story: The individual creator is not established.
Claim: The drink appeared under three names in 1882.
Verdict: Documented
What the record shows: Difford’s Guide reports that the “New York Letter” in The Olean Democrat described whiskey, vermouth and bitters under the names Manhattan, Turf Club and Jockey Club.[2]
Evidence against or gap: The creator is not reliably established.
Earliest known source: The Olean Democrat, 5 September 1882, as reported by Difford’s Guide.[2]
Source: Difford’s history.
Documented record: The Oxford Companion identifies the item as a syndicated “Gotham Gossip” column and reports that recipes appeared by 1884 in books by O. H. Byron, George Winter and J. W. Gibson. Byron’s two Manhattan recipes are on page 21.[1][3]
Sources and claim mapping: The Difford’s history supports the newspaper date, wording and names. The Oxford Companion entry supports the syndicated-column identification and 1884 publications. The Byron scan supplies the recipes.
Last checked: November 2026; exact day not recorded.
Verdict badge: The Jennie Jerome banquet
Claim: Jennie Jerome hosted a banquet for Samuel Tilden at which the Manhattan was created.
Verdict: Legend
What the record shows: As reported by the Oxford Companion, contemporary news accounts confirm a Manhattan Club reception for Tilden on 29 December 1874, but do not mention the cocktail. Winston Churchill had been born to Jennie Jerome at Blenheim Palace in England on 30 November.[1][10]
Evidence against or gap: The account connecting Jerome with the drink is much later than the reception. Britannica describes the associated Manhattan Club invention story as largely discredited.[1][9]
Earliest known source: The Oxford Companion traces the banquet tale to Patrick Murphy’s 1945 column, crediting Ed Gibbs; Walter Winchell added Jerome in 1950.[1]
Sources and claim mapping: The Oxford Companion entry supports the reception and later story’s development. The International Churchill Society biography establishes Churchill’s birth. Britannica assesses the invention story.
Last checked: 7 November 2026.
Verdict badge: The Manhattan Club
Claim: The Manhattan originated at the Manhattan Club.
Verdict: Disputed
What the record shows: Difford’s and the Oxford Companion report club origin claims from 1889 and 1891.[2][1]
Evidence against or gap: These retrospective claims do not establish who first mixed the drink. Discrediting the Jerome tale does not itself disprove every club claim.
Earliest known source: An 1889 account attributed to a Boston bartender, as reported by Difford’s Guide.[2]
Sources: Difford’s history and the Oxford Companion entry.
Last checked: November 2026; exact day not recorded.
Variations and the Manhattan’s wider influence
A Dry Manhattan uses dry vermouth; a Perfect Manhattan combines dry and sweet vermouth. These are named variations, not instructions to omit vermouth or assume that “perfect” describes a superior version.[9]
The distinction already had an early counterpart in Robert Vermeire’s 1922 book. His Dry version substituted French vermouth for Italian, while his Medium version combined rye with equal quantities of French and Italian vermouth.[7]
Scotch takes the drink towards the Rob Roy, while the Bobby Burns adds Bénédictine to a Scotch-based variation.[9] For the wider family, the Oxford Companion identifies the Martini, Rob Roy and Brooklyn as cocktails built on the Manhattan’s model.[1]
Verdict badge: The Martinez
Claim: The Martinez first appears in print as a gin version of the Manhattan.
Verdict: Documented
What the record shows: Immediately after Byron’s Manhattan recipes, the Martinez instruction reads: “Same as Manhattan, only you substitute gin for whisky”.[3]
Evidence against or gap: None found.
Earliest known source: O. H. Byron, The Modern Bartenders’ Guide, 1884, page 21.[3]
Source: Byron’s digitised book.
Last checked: November 2026; exact day not recorded.
Where to go next
- Whisky Cocktails: The Complete Guide: explore the wider cocktail family.
- Rob Roy: follow the Manhattan’s Scotch variation.
- Bobby Burns Cocktail: explore the Scotch and Bénédictine branch.
Sources
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, “Manhattan Cocktail”, reproduced by Spirits & Distilling. https://www.spiritsanddistilling.com/dictionary/acref-9780199311132-e-359
- Difford’s Guide, Manhattan cocktail history, undated web edition supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.diffordsguide.com/g/1221/manhattan-cocktail/history
- O. H. Byron, The Modern Bartenders’ Guide, Excelsior Publishing House, 1884, page 21. Digitised by EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1884-The-Modern-Bartenders-Guide-by-O-H-Byron
- Jerry Thomas, The Bar-Tender’s Guide, “An Entirely New and Enlarged Edition”, copyright 1887, page 24. Digitised by EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1887-The-bar-tender-s-guide
- Theodore Proulx, Bartender’s Manual, revised edition, 1888. Digitised by EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1888-Bartender-s-Manual-by-Theodore-Proulx-Revised-Edition
- George J. Kappeler, Modern American Drinks, 1895, page 38. Project Gutenberg transcription. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61065/61065-h/61065-h.htm
- Robert Vermeire, Cocktails: How to Mix Them, 1922, transcription by George Sinclair. https://www.vintagefrenchcopper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Cocktails_how_to_mix_them_Vermeire_1922.pdf
- International Bartenders Association, Manhattan, undated web specification supplied in the fact sheet. https://iba-world.com/iba-cocktail/manhattan/
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Manhattan, undated web edition supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manhattan-cocktail
- International Churchill Society, Life, undated web biography supplied in the fact sheet. https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/life/
This desk-researched article follows verified fact sheet TOP-A495, distinguishing digitised recipe books from historical accounts reported by later references.
Last checked: November 2026