8/8/2019 Bartender Thinking MM XII Dick Bradsell's Manhattan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bartender-thinking-mm-xii-dick-bradsells-manhattan 1/3

8/8/2019 Bartender Thinking MM XII Dick Bradsell's Manhattan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bartender-thinking-mm-xii-dick-bradsells-manhattan 2/3

the garnish, freshly cut an orange twist, and squeeze the orange oils out of the twist

onto the surface of the drink; Add a Maraschino Cherry.

 Now, some Cocktail purists might be shaking their heads at this recipe, especially at

the mention of sugar syrup, from the cherry jar; But the truth is that there is nothing

new, or strange, about syrup in a Manhattan cocktail; Early recipes for the Manhattanall contain syrup, as well as dashes of Maraschino [liqueur], Curacao, and even

Absinthe. The Manhattan is a truth cocktail [spirit, sugar, bitters, water], with Sweet

Vermouth added to it. Most peoples idea of what constitutes a Manhattan is based on

how they themselves were taught or what they read in some, not very well researched,

cocktail book.

Back to the Bradsell story, after drinking his Manhattan in the restaurant, Dick 

decided to belly up to the bar and ask the bartender there what the recipe was for the

Manhattan, but the bartender refused to tell, not even money would tempt the recipe

from him. The ever-resourceful Mr. Bradsell decided that he would get that recipe,

regardless of what the bartender thought, so he turned his cunning to the waitress,who was to be tempted by financial means, and who thus procured the recipe for 

Dick, and London. The exact identity of the stubborn bartender who would not part

intentionally with his Manhattan recipe was never revealed to me by Dick, believe me

I tried asking several times, but I never gave up wondering who it might be. Now the

only clue I had was that he was referred to as "the Greatest Bartender in Kentucky",

which leads me to believe that it might have been Max Allen Jnr [deceased].

According to the Woodford Reserve website, Max Allen Jnr's recipe for the

Manhattan included Grenadine syrup, not Maraschino Syrup, and the reason for the

use of Grenadine syrup is quite startling, the redness of the syrup was used to correct

the colour of the cocktail when it was made by the jug! The darkening of the gallons

of pre-mixed Manhattan cocktail caused by the use of Angostura Bitters was simply

corrected with Grenadine for cosmetic reasons.

Was Max Allen Jnr the bartender who refused Dick Bradsell's request for his

Manhattan recipe? We may never know, unless Dick Bradsell decides to cough up the

information.

As noted already, Dick uses Bourbon in his Manhattans, which technically leads to

them being termed Bourbon Manhattans; What then as you "supposed" to use in a

Manhattan cocktail?

Most people when told Rye Whiskey will reach for their stock of Canadian Whiskey,

however this would be incorrect. The Rye Whiskey that should be used is in fact

American Rye Whiskey. Once again this leads to another question; What is the

difference between American and Canadian Rye Whiskey? Well, by law American

Rye Whiskey must contain a minimum of 51% rye in its mashbill [recipe for making

whiskey], the Canadian Rye whiskey, on the other hand, does not even need to

contain Rye, it just has to appear to. In truth, Canadian Rye Whiskey is a blend of 

actual whiskey with NGS [Neutral Grain Spirit]. NGS is cheaper to produce than

actual whiskey, and it is used in blended whiskey to stretch the "good stuff", and also

tame the flavour profile of the product so that it appeals to the widest generalaudience.

8/8/2019 Bartender Thinking MM XII Dick Bradsell's Manhattan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bartender-thinking-mm-xii-dick-bradsells-manhattan 3/3

The reason why a lot of people assume Canadian whiskey is to be used in Manhattans

is also down to a few factors, the first being prohibition, between 1920 and 1933,

there was a law which prohibited Alcohol production and consumption, apart from

certain exceptions [Medicinal consumption for example]. Another of the reasons why

Canadian Whiskey, Canadian Club in particular, is used for the Manhattan cocktail is

down to Harry MacElhone, who featured named brands in his books, also well asadvertisement in the backs of the said books. Harry MacElhone was advertising

Canadian Club in his books, and so combined with prohibition, and the advertisers

shilling, he perverted the type of rye whiskey to be used into Canadian Club. The

famous German bartender Charles Schumann also listed Canadian Club as the

ingredient to use in the Manhattan, presumably taking his lead from MacElhone.

Tags:

•  bradsell

• cocktail

• manhattan• mixology monday

Posted by thinkingbartender  on February 8, 2007 12:00 AM | Permalink