Martini and Manhattan Variations
Elegant , Easy Cocktails with Refreshing Citrus Flavors
Jan 3, 2009
If one wants to be true to the intent of martini and Manhattan drinking, then the only major ingredients should be alcoholic. That would seem to limit the variations possible, and it does, a little. Martinis and Manhattans are simple to make, containing only two or three ingredients and a garnish; finding variations is a quick way to vary your “liquid diet” and to impress friends with your bartending skills.
Following are easy variations of these classic drinks. Measurements are given as jigger or percentages of jigger, rather than ounces or spoonsful. Why? Because with these simple drinks, it doesn’t matter what the capacity of your measuring vessel is; it is the relative proportions that make all the difference.
The Most Refreshing Martini Ever
Ingredients:
- Beefeater Gin
- Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
- Stirrings Mojito Mix
- Slice of lime
Directions:
- Place five or six ice cubes in a cocktail shaker.
- Add 1 ½ jigger gin, scant half jigger vermouth, 1/8 jigger mojito mix.
- Shake violently so that tiny shards of ice appear in the mixture as you pour it into a stemmed martini glass.
- Add slice of lime as garnish and serve.
Notes:
- One can use other brands of liquor, or one can substitute vodka for gin. However, the recipe given was said to be so refreshing, it “tasted just like fresh mountain spring water…only better!
- Also, while Stirrings mixes are not alcoholic, so little is used here that the danger of falling of the Cosmopolitan cliff, for the serious drinker, is negligible.
Orange Manhattan
Ingredients:
- Jameson’s Irish Whiskey
- Mathilde Orange X.O. Liqueur au Cognac
- Half slice of orange
- Cocktail cherry
Directions:
- Place five or six ice cubes in a cocktail shaker.
- Add 1 ½ jigger Irish whiskey and 1/3 jigger of Mathilde Orange X.O. Liqueur au Cognac
- Shake well and pour into stemmed cocktail glass.
- Add half slice of orange and cherry and serve.
Notes:
- A Manhattan is, by nature, less refreshing and sweeter than a martini. This one can be adjusted to be even sweeter, by increasing the Mathilde and decreasing the Irish whiskey. But it is still elegant, and all alcohol, served in a stemmed glass.
- While most people use rye or bourbon for Manhattans, Irish whiskey—particularly Jameson’s—makes a smoother drink. Bourbon is slightly sweeter, while rye is more smoky.
- No bitters are used, although they ordinarily would be, in order not to interfere with the fresh orange flavors.
Old Man Hatton
Not a Manhattan variation, exactly, the following drink does include a bit more extraneous liquid and solids. It is a taller, less concentrated drink and might appeal to those who do not care for quite as much alcohol in their libations, but still want a potent and elegant drink. It could be considered a cross between a classic Old Fashioned and a modern Manhattan.
Ingredients:
- Bourbon, rye or Irish whiskey
- Mathilde Orange X.O. Liqueur au Cognac
- Fine sugar
- Water or sparkling water
- Orange slice and cocktail cherry
Directions:
- Put one to two teaspoons fine sugar in bottom of double old-fashioned glass, or even a highball glass.
- Splash in about 1/3 of a jigger of water or sparkling water, depending on whether you want a bit of fizz.
- Place orange slice and cocktail cherry in bottom of glass, and use a spoon to muddle the sugar, water and fruit.
- Add 3 or 4 ice cubes (or more, if using a highball glass).
- Pour over this a jigger of bourbon, rye or Irish whiskey, ½ to 1 jigger of Mathilde Orange X.O. Liqueur au Cognac (depending on whether a sweeter drink is desired).
- Stir once or twice and serve.
Note: All of these variations have been invented by the author and tested by the author and her friends.
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