Friday Happy Hour: The Old-Fashioned
A simple drink, often done wrong—don't forget the secret ingredient.
Note: I love teaching about cocktails almost as much as drinking them. Done right, they are a demonstration of craft and hospitality. I intend to offer a cocktail recipe and key technique every Friday for the next while.
Just how old is the old-fashioned? They were calling it “old” back in 1880 to distinguish it from all the new-fangled drinks like the martini. In those days, it would have been made with whiskey (bourbon or rye), brandy, or gin, but bourbon is most common now. Rye is also a good choice—unless you’re talking about the average Canadian rye whisky. We’ll get to whiskeys (and the reason I spelled it both with and without an “e”) later, but the key thing is using a whiskey with “character.” As you’d expect with a drink this old, many wars have been fought to stalemate about almost every point of the recipe below but consider it a good starting point.
It's a simple drink but surprisingly easy to screw up. A good spirit is key as there’s nothing for a poor one to hide behind. The other secret ingredient is free. All you need is good technique, as I describe in this video:
Old-Fashioned
2 ounces bourbon
2 dashes Angostura bitters
¼ ounce simple syrup
Orange peel and quality cherry for garnish
Build in a mixing glass, add ice, stir 30 seconds, and pour over a large ice cube
<OR>
Build in a rocks glass over large ice and stir briefly
Directions: Pour in a measured two ounces of bourbon (or other spirit) and add two healthy dashes of bitters. No need to be timid with your dashes—bitters aren’t hot sauce (unless they’re Scrappy’s Fire Tincture, in which case they are). Add a quarter ounce of simple syrup, ice and stir. For how long? I cover that in the video and talk about ice and dilution, but water is the “secret” ingredient to great cocktails. A little ice melt softens the spirit but too much waters it down.
We’ll get to garnishes later, but they aren’t just for show. Peel a long strip from a shiny orange (indicating the presence of oil in the skin) with as little of the bitter, white pith as possible. Rub the skin side of the peel along the glass’s rim, then spritz the top of the drink with its oil by pinching it in half over the glass. If you immediately smell the aroma of an orange and see oily dots on the drink, you did it right. I like to cradle the cherry in the peel, then pierce them with a toothpick and drop it into the glass. Present the drink with a hearty “Cheers!” or enjoy it yourself.
Now, if you’ve had an old-fashioned or two, you might take issue with a couple points above. For instance, some people like to start by muddling a good slice of orange and cherry in the glass. And if you use brandy instead of bourbon with that “fruit salad,” you’ll have a delicious Wisconsin-styled old-fashioned. The simple syrup, however, will gather the most ire, but you’ll have to wait for next week to learn more about that.
Your turn!
What’s your favorite spirit for an old-fashioned? How do you make yours?
I'm not a fan, but my husband uses whiskey. Jameson Black Barrel or Pendleton.
Tell him to try using black walnut bitters. Might as some interesting flavors