{"id":239103,"date":"2026-05-21T10:26:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/239103\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T10:26:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:26:37","slug":"why-manhattan-cocktails-are-being-rebranded-as-boy-martinis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/239103\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Manhattan Cocktails Are Being Rebranded as \u201cBoy Martinis\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can certainly get a Manhattan at the Brooklyn location of Ray\u2019s<\/a>, the kitschy bar that also has locations in Manhattan and Miami, but it\u2019s not on the menu that way. Instead, you\u2019ll find the combination of rye, sweet vermouth, and bitters in the Martini section\u2014because at Ray\u2019s, it\u2019s not a Manhattan; it\u2019s a \u201cBoy Martini.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a skit posted by the bar in March<\/a>, a customer orders a Manhattan. \u201cYou mean a Boy Martini?\u201d the bartender responds, describing it as \u201clike a Martini, but it has whiskey and it\u2019s dark, so it\u2019s for a boy, like you.\u201d The video racked up over 3 million views on TikTok and Instagram, and was imitated by bars like Austin\u2019s Revenge<\/a>; Nashville\u2019s The Amsterdamian<\/a>; and Bristol, England\u2019s Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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Both the video and the drink are really a matter of savvy marketing, explains Dylan Wells, general manager of Ray\u2019s Brooklyn. After taking stock of the best-selling items at the end of 2025, \u201cit became very apparent to us that we were very much a Martini bar,\u201d he says. Espresso Martinis and classic Martinis performed well; Pornstar Martinis were seeing an uptick. In January, \u201cwe started breaking out our best-selling Martini variants and putting them on our menu front and center.\u201d With the Manhattan echoing some Martini qualities\u2014strong, stirred, served up\u2014it made sense to add to the menu, Wells recalls, and when someone suggested the name, \u201cwe thought that was kind of funny.\u201d<\/p>\n


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There\u2019s a level of engagement bait to it all, as proven by the spirited comments on the skit. Namely, the drink in the video is shaken, prompting plenty of horrified responses; the actual Boy Martini is, as it should be, stirred. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t totally look like a Manhattan in the video,\u201d Wells admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Of course, the drink\u2019s name also inspires existential debate. Is a Manhattan really a \u201cBoy Martini,\u201d especially when the Martini itself has been synonymous with hypermasculine figures like James Bond and Mad Men\u2019s Roger Sterling for so long? This is the entertaining absurdity of the concept though, as is the case with rebranding assemblages of snacks as \u201cgirl dinner\u201d or bowls of slop as \u201cboy kibble.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 To apply gendered qualifiers to anything as generally appealing as meat and rice, or a classic cocktail, is to also underscore the pointlessness of the pursuit. In this way, the trend pokes fun at the concept of \u201cgirly drinks\u201d versus \u201cmasculine\u201d ones, and at the \u201clingering trope of the man\u2019s glass,\u201d as The New York Times put it<\/a> in a 2023 piece about the gendering of glassware among some drinkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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If customers find the name silly, there\u2019s little sense of that when they order, Wells says. \u201cPeople are playing it straight,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re not embarrassed. They\u2019re not really laughing. They\u2019re just ordering a Boy Martini.\u201d Is it even registering that it\u2019s a Manhattan? He\u2019s not sure. The point stands: Everyone wants to drink Martinis now.<\/p>\n