Manhattan Madness

Boozers, ordering a Manhattan in London is not the same as ordering one in the U.S. The Wino is sure you are not surprised by this, but, unfortunately, she was.

A Manhattan Cocktail, in The Wino's mind, as well as in Wikipedia's mind, is a simple cocktail containing whiskey (or bourbon or rye), sweet vermouth, and bitters. So when The Wino was asked by a bartender, errr mixologist, at a London bar known for its cocktails, "Do you want it dry, perfect, or sweet?" she was completely baffled and was totally unable to play it off like she knew all about it.

The Wino knows, of course, that there can be variations in the ingredients and ratios and she would certainly expect it considering she's living in London now and not in Seattle. She is even somewhat familiar with the Perfect Manhattan but unsure of the exact ingredients. So The Wino, ever in pursuit of knowledge (particularly boozy knowledge) about her new (albeit temporary) hometown, asked what the differences were. There ensued a stammeringly awkward and painful conversation filled with misunderstandings about the Manhattan cocktail.

Boozers, in the bartender's descriptions of dry, perfect and sweet Manhattans there was no mention of anything resembling the classic Manhattan cocktail The Wino know so well. (She would also point out that nearly every Manhattan recipe on the Web references the classic Manhattan cocktail she is used to, even in the UK.) The Wino tried to describe it (in her American accent) to the mixlogist, but he just looked at her like she had no idea what she is talking about and replied, "Well, it's not going to be the same as in the U.S." Right. What was The Wino thinking? She gave up.

And when the bartender served The Wino a Perfect Manhattan, she didn't really like it. But rather than prolong the already unruly, wildly unpleasant conversation and confirm the bartender's assumption that she was just a pushy, rude, tourist who expects everything to be like it is in America, she slurped it down like a good, boozy boozer and then ordered another.

She supposes she probably should have just ordered a glass of wine.

Bottoms up!