h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Manhattan - a Cocktail - A1049591
Author: Gosho (it's pronounced 'nucular') - U147203

The research I had to do for this one was absolutely ghastly but I think it's ready for review

Thanks to Myers U170647 for providing the inspiration

Good entry - no glaring errors/things that need expanding on - I knew nothing about this subject (I've never drunk a cocktail in my life) and understood it all perfectly, and didn't feel any more information was needed.

I didn't quite understand the reference to Canadian rye whiskey. Do you mean that most Canadian whiskey is rye whiskey - ie they make other types as well. Or do you mean that most Canadian whiskey has rye in it therefore making it rye whiskey by the 51% definition?

From my bar-tending days - Manhattan - Shot glass half filled with crushed ice - add double measure of bourbon - measure of ITALIAN vermouth - 2 drops Angustura bitters and a sprig of mint,

That I was told was a Manhattan.

However our colonial cousins enjoy embellishment and adaptation and if ones customer was of obvious American extraction, then it was worth asking if they wanted Bourbon or Rye.

No right thinking person could use French Vermouth.

Good entry

Good entry - lots of detail.

Can't quite imagine the taste of this - must try it some time.

Sprout

Thanks

I've not yet been able to verify that Canadian rye whiskies are 'rye' by the legal US definition GD, but I've reworded that bit to try and make a little more clear. Whilst doing the research for this entry I found several references to Canadian whiskies being rye, but no actual figures to back it up.

Vintage Gosho.

(means I lke it).

DMT

I don't know if this helps on the Canadian rye/not rye issue. Well my family over there always refer to whiskey as 'rye' in the much the same way we would refer to a vacuum cleaner as a 'hoover'.

Nice rescue, Gosho.

I think the section on "bitters" needs a little reorganization. I think this order might flow better:
paragraph 2
paragraph 1+3 (combine the two)
paragraph 4

Cheers!

I see what you mean Gordon. Consider it done

Practically perfect Gosho

suggestion:
less common today as it once was > less common today than it once was
Pimms

I'll see to that one

Italian Vermouth comes in red (Rosso) and white (Bianco) varieties. Does it matter which one you use to make a Manhattan?

You say 'Bitters are' but later on you say 'Orange Bitters is'. I don't know whether it should be 'is' or 'are', but it should be consistent.

I don't think that this is an error Gnomon - the first time refers to bitters generally (and there is more than one type) so 'are' is appropriate, while with the descriptions of Angostura and Orange bitters individually, only one type is being referred to, so 'is' is appropriate. Of course I am assuming that there is only one type of Orange bitters being talked about.

It is a bit like 'innings' in cricket - looks plural, but is both a singular and a plural, and you can only tell from context which is intended (I nearly suggested this a typo in the cricket entry on the front page yesterday)

Pimms

Thanks Pimms, you've answered that one for me - nothing more to add

Regarding the vermouth Gnomon, you've got me there. I may have gotten it the wrong way round regarding which one is dark and which is light. I haven't made a Manhattan or worked in a bar for a long time, and now I've got a mental block on the matter

It's Rosso which goes into a Manhattan, not Bianco, and Rosso is red, so it's got to be Italian which is dark and dry, and French which is light and sweet... isn't it? Italian is the dry one, French is sweet... I'm sure of that, I think.

Ok, I have go to the liquor store tomorrow and refresh my memory. I need some beer anyway

To my knowledge, Martini comes in Rosso (red), Bianco (white) and Extra Dry (still white, I think). Then there's Cinzano, which is also Italian and is white. I'm not sure I've ever come across French vermouth - I'll find out if someone chucks a brand name at me, I suppose.

Not sure exactly how much help I'm being, but there it is...



Martini have one of the best logos and colour schemes in the world, if you ask me - just a shame I don't like the drink much! At the beginning of Jean-Luc Godard's 'A Bout de Souffle', there's a shot of a Parisian newspaper stand on the Champs Elysees with a Martini logo on the roof, and it's utterly utterly fantastic.

Noilly Prat, Dubonnet

Well, they *sound* French

Dubonnet?

That was a suggestion, not a question.