Thursday, March 22, 2007

Classic Mixed Drinks: The Manhattan


It seems to me there are too many fluffy pink uber-sweetened mixed drinks being guzzled by Americans these days. Its sad that people cannot drink like adults, if you are drinking an alcoholic drink, it should TASTE LIKE IT HAS ALCOHOL IN IT. Amazing I know. What people need to realize is that this is not a bad thing. There are several Classic Cocktails that dont duck the alcohol in the drink, and still taste fantastic. My Favorite, the Manhattan:

The
Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Commonly used whiskeys include American Rye, Canadian, Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. Proportions of whiskey to vermouth vary, from a very sweet 1:1 ratio to a much less sweet 4:1 ratio, but the classic mixture is 2:1. The cocktail is often stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass, where it is garnished with a Maraschino cherry with a stem. A Manhattan is also frequently served on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass (lowball glass).

The Manhattan is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

The Manhattan has been called a drinking man's cocktail — strong, urbane, and simple — but it has not achieved the recognition of the more widely known martini.

A popular history suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s, where it was invented for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mother) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, later prompting several people to request the drink by referring the name of the club where it originated — "the Manhattan cocktail."

However, experts in mixology history have found prior references to various similar cocktail recipes called "Manhattan" and served in the Manhattan area. Some of these references date decades prior to the above-mentioned banquet. Nevertheless, the consensus among experts is that the Jerome/Tilden event is what made the recipe of "American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura bitters" famous as the Manhattan cocktail.


There are several variations on the theme but I tend to like the classic 2:1 ratio of bourbon to vermouth:

3 oz Old Granddad Bottled In Bond
1 1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 Marachino Cherry

Shake vigourously, strain, serve with cherry.



Serve & Enjoy!

TomC

Jonathon Papelbon: More of the Same

Got to watch another Red Sox spring training game on ESPN this afternoon, a thoroughly disappointing 4-4 tie with Philadelphia. That said all the interesting news revolves around the Sox pitcher Jonathon Papelbon. Jon-Boy, after a spring training in which he was prepped to be a starter, had a stud rookie season as the Sox closer, with the following stats:

59G 4W 2L 35SV 68 1/3IP 8R 7ER 75K 0.92 ERA 0.776 WHIP

Before shoulder issues ended his season as the Sox were tanking their way out of the playoffs. The shoulder problems were all the concerning the offseason and the word was they would stretch Papelbon out and start him next season, so he could get the rest a starter does.

ESPN is reporting today
that after spending a spring training preparing to start, Papelbon will reprise his role as closer this season. This is a good move because all the closer prospects this spring have been uninspiring. This really will gel the bullpen roles quickly. Also there seems to be a glut of workable 5th starter options (to follow Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Wakefield in the rotation) with the likes of Jon Lester, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, and even possibly Kason Gabbard (who is having an exceptional spring) vying for the job.

Papelbon (and Wakefield for that matter) looked sharp in today's outing. Jon threw hard and had good movement on his pitches. Also he threw his changeup for strikes, which gives him a third viable pitch. Also in an interesting note, he threw exclusively from the stretch, which is something a starting pitcher generally would not do in situations with no one on base. Does this give more credence to the rumor? Only time will tell.

Go Sox!

TomC

Self Promotion!

I never once thought about blogging for recognition of any kind, so its always surprising to me when I find that anyone out there cares about my posts. I am not going to lie, through FeedBurner, I have a strong grasp of about how many people do read my blog, our small but dedicated brotherhood. Every now and then I get suprised by some things. I have blogged before that I have added my site to the "Great Wall" at FuelMyBlog. Well through the dedication of my readers I have been in the top ten entertainment sites on the site before. Well, we have made it to the top! As proven by the graphic above, I have the #1 entertainment blog on that site, and I have all of you to thank. Awesomeness.

The other graphic is a benchmark I personally find amusing. To me you know you have made it on the web when people can find your site by an easy Google Search, and doing such a search I find that I am easily visible on the first page of results. Neato. Maybe you find this less exciting than me but I am pumped.

Hope you all are having as good a night as me.

TomC