Old Fashioned

Ingredients

• 60 mlbourbon or rye whiskey, 45–50% abv
• 7 mlrich demerara syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water), or 1 brown sugar cube
• 2–3dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
• 1dash orange bitters, optional

Garnish and glass

• 1wide strip of orange peel, pith trimmed
• 1large clear ice cube or sphere
• 1rocks or old fashioned glass

Directions

1. If using a sugar cube, put it in the glass, soak it with the bitters and a teaspoon of water and crush it to a paste with a muddler until no grains remain. Syrup is faster and more consistent.
2. Add the whiskey to a mixing glass with the syrup and bitters, or build straight in the rocks glass if you prefer the old barroom method.
3. Fill the mixing glass with hard ice cubes and stir smoothly for 25–30 seconds with a bar spoon.
4. Judge dilution by feel and taste: the outside of the glass frosts, and the drink should taste rounded rather than hot, with the sugar just softening the whiskey rather than sweetening it.
5. Place one large, clear cube in the rocks glass. A single big cube has far less surface area than three small ones and keeps the drink from watering out.
6. Strain the stirred drink over the cube; it should come about two thirds up the ice.
7. Hold the orange peel skin outward a few centimetres above the glass and squeeze it sharply so a fine mist of oil sprays across the surface. You should smell it from arm’s length.
8. Rub the peel round the rim, drop it in, and serve at once. Sip slowly: this drink evolves as the cube melts.

Technique

• This is the original cocktail, in the 1806 sense: spirit, sugar, water and bitters. Everything else is a later elaboration.
• Muddled orange slices and maraschino cherries are a mid-20th-century American bar habit, not the classic recipe, and they turn the drink into fruit punch.
• Use a spirit with some strength. Whiskey at 40% abv is overwhelmed by the dilution from stirring and ends up thin.

Substitutions

• No demerara syrup? A brown sugar cube muddled with bitters is the older, and arguably more correct, method.
• Aged rum, cognac or reposado tequila all work in the same template if you have no whiskey.

Variations

• The Wisconsin Old Fashioned, made with brandy, muddled fruit and topped with soda or lemon-lime, drunk statewide.
• The Oaxaca Old Fashioned, with reposado tequila, mezcal and agave syrup.
• The maple Old Fashioned, sweetened with dark maple syrup in autumn.

History

It is the original 1806 definition of a cocktail; by the 1880s drinkers asking for that plain style called it old-fashioned, and Louisville’s Pendennis Club claims it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Old Fashioned?

Old Fashioned is a cocktail from United States: whiskey, sugar, bitters and ice, stirred and twisted with orange peel. It is the original 1806 definition of a cocktail; by the 1880s drinkers asking for that plain style called it old-fashioned, and Louisville’s Pendennis Club claims it.

How long does Old Fashioned take to make?

Old Fashioned takes 5 min of preparation and 0 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 drink. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Old Fashioned?

Yes, within limits. No demerara syrup? A brown sugar cube muddled with bitters is the older, and arguably more correct, method. Aged rum, cognac or reposado tequila all work in the same template if you have no whiskey.

What is the most important thing to get right in Old Fashioned?

Judge dilution by feel and taste: the outside of the glass frosts, and the drink should taste rounded rather than hot, with the sugar just softening the whiskey rather than sweetening it.