Love the classic Manhattan cocktail? I’ve taken all the flavors and transformed them into a delicious punch for any occasion! Cherry, bourbon, and orange pair perfectly with bubbly sparkling water to make my Cherry Manhattan Punch!

If you’d rather skip my essential cooking tips and tricks and get straight to this delicious recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.

Are you a classic cocktail drinker?  I wasn’t until I binge-watched Mad Men but I am now. After watching their booze-induced meetings and the post-work happy hours I want to try each and every classic cocktail, no matter how silly the name sounds.

I mean, A Rob Roy? Really? Sounds like something from a spaghetti western and is actually a Manhattan made with Scotch Whiskey.

A Grasshopper? Who wants to drink an insect?

The Harvey Wallbanger? That sounds like something you only do in the bedroom…

These silly sounding ones are currently sitting at the bottom of my list while the ones at the top include the Manhattan, Old-Fashioned, and a Whiskey Sour.

Let’s start with the Manhattan because I know Brooks will drink one, or four, with me!

Now we can get started with what is actually in a Manhattan?

MANHATTAN COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS

• rye bourbon/whiskey
• sweet vermouth
• dry vermouth
• orange bitters
• Maraschino cherry garnish

Intrigued yet?

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Now that we know what’s in a Manhattan, let’s make one!

MANHATTAN COCKTAIL RECIPE

• 2 parts rye whiskey/bourbon
• 1 part vermouth (usually half sweet and half dry)
• 2 dashes of bitters
• maraschino cherry garnish or slice of lemon peel

This and other recipes, call for a maraschino cherry garnish but not actually in the cocktail. I have found a few that say a dash of the maraschino cherry liquid helps to round out the cocktail and enhance the fruit flavors.

Other recipes call for muddling the cherries in the glass and then adding the bourbon and bitters. Stirred, not shaken!

The subject of maraschino cherries is a tricky one. Some prefer Luxardo or frozen/canned cherries but I prefer the good old-fashioned, neon red maraschino cherry for the Manhattan.

Now that I have the ingredients down, let’s make it a large batch punch!

I tried making this Cherry Manhattan Punch with plain cherry juice and orange sparkling water to keep the calories and sugar down, but it just didn’t turn out right. The sugar from the maraschino cherry did the trick.

Scrapping the “fancy-shmancy” stuff is exactly what you need to do when making a punch. Use a large jar of maraschino cherries when assembling the punch for two reasons:

1. You need all the cherries for garnishing the punch bowl/pitcher, and
2. You can use the juice instead of purchasing a separate bottle of grenadine.

All the flavors of the classic Manhattan cocktail, in a large-batch, beautiful red, punch full of plump cherries, caramel bourbon, and bright, orange sparkling water.

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It is so much better for your wallet if you serve punch instead of individual cocktails! Much like having a signature cocktail or only serving a few choices of wine or beer, people are going to drink what you have available.

That being said, if you are hosting a “Cocktail” cocktail party you need to have all the ingredients available for classic cocktails. If not, serve punch!

Here are a few of my faves that can easily be made into mocktail punches if you need to.

BUDGET FRIENDLY PUNCH RECIPES

• Pink Passion Party Punch
• Pineapple Ginger Prosecco Punch
• Pomegranate Sparkler
• Grapefruit Rum Punch

A cool Manhattan cocktail can be served as a party punch too. My Cherry Manhattan Punch is perfect for any party and is full of bright cherries and caramel notes from the bourbon!

MORE EASY PARTY FOODS

• CHERRY LIMEADE PUNCH
• CHERRY LIME BOURBON SMASH
• CHERRY GARCIA DIP
• PUMPKIN APPLE PUNCH
• CHERRY CUPCAKES WITH MINT

Freaky Friday Summer Edition

Freaky Friday was started in 2015 by Michaela over at An Affair From The Heart who is known for her Award Winning Crack Dip and so many sauerkraut recipes I can’t even count them all!

If you haven’t heard of Freaky Friday before, it’s a blog swap where we are secretly assigned another person’s blog and we pick a recipe to make. Then on the specific Friday, we all post and see what each other made.

This round I was assigned to the blog Who Needs A Cape? which is run by Lori and Heather.  They don’t wear superhero capes or try to be super moms.  I love that they share real mom life struggles all while making great food!

When trying to choose what to make from their blog, I started by looking at their appetizers of course.  Once I started scrolling through them I couldn’t decide between their Spicy Green Olive and Feta Tapenade, Pineapple Cheesecake Dip with Toffee Pretzels, or the Loaded Cheeseburger Dip in the slow cooker! I decided on a different approach: Cocktails.

This wasn’t easy either but when I saw their Sweet Manhattan Fizz Cocktail I knew I had to make it into this Cherry Manhattan Punch.  Brooks will drink it too!  Check out their extensive list of Christmas drinks for kids of all ages!

Check out their site and all the other Freaky Friday Participants:

• An Affair from the Heart: Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
• Lemoine Family Kitchen: Easy Peasy Corn Pudding
• Take Two Tapas: Large Batch Cherry Manhattan Party Punch
• Seduction in the Kitchen: No Churn Raspberry Moscato Wine Ice Cream
• West Via Midwest: Creamy Lemon Ice Cream
• Bowl Me Over: Homemade French Onion Soup
• The Devilish Dish: Chili Cheese Corn Dogs
• Mildly Meandering: Chai Latte Dip
• Who Needs a Cape?: Hash Brown Taco Casserole
• A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures: German Soft Pretzels
• PlatterTalk: Posole