Message 8813 of 22774 in Behind the Bar

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> 
> Also, for the record, there is no such thing as a Sweet Manhattan, as 
> a Manhattan  always contains sweet vermouth. It is only Perfect 
> Manhattans and Dry Manhattans which are different.

Oh brother, you should have seen me get into an arguement with this waiter 
when I ordered a Maker's Manhattan and he asked if I wanted it Sweet or Dry.  
I told him I wanted it in the standard way which is with sweet vermouth, that 
SV is the default, not something you have to specify.  He disagreed, told me 
he's been serving and bartending for X years, blah blah blah.  

Now here's the thing, TB, there is such a thing as a Sweet Manhattan, but it's 
not called such because of the SV.  In some circles the "sweet" modifier means 
to add a dash (about a 1/4 oz.) of cherry juice to the drink.  

Well guess what?  Dipshit waiter is so sure that he's right that he sends the 
ticket to the bar as a Sweet Manhattan and the tender adds juice accordingly.  
It wasn't bad, I drank it, but I could tell by color and taste that cherry 
juice had been added.  So the bartender and I were of one mind on this issue, 
but the waiter sending the order tried to do it his way in spite of my brief 
lecture on the subject. 

Of course the other day I was talking about the cherry juice thing with a 
fellow tender at work and he said he called that a Dirty Manhattan.  Now I'd 
never heard of that, yet considering that "Dirty" with regards to a Martini 
means to add the brine of the olive garnish I like the symmetry of this 
terminology.