Old Fashioned
Whiskey, a little sugar, bitters and ice. The oldest cocktail formula, and still the clearest test of a bartender's balance.
- MethodStirred
- GlassRocks (old fashioned) glass
- IceOne large cube
- Strengthabout 28.6% ABV
- BaseWhiskey
- Tastestrong, sweet, bitter
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | Bourbon or Rye whiskey |
| 5 ml 1 tsp | Rich syrup (2:1) or Sugar cube (or 1 tsp sugar) or Simple syrup (1:1) |
| 2 dashes | Aromatic bitters (Angostura-style) |
| 1 dash | Orange bitters (optional) |
Garnish. A wide strip of orange peel, squeezed over the glass so its oil lands on the surface, then dropped in. A lemon peel as well is an old and good habit.
Method
- Put the syrup and bitters in a mixing glass (or muddle a sugar cube with the bitters and a few drops of water until it dissolves).
- Add the whiskey and fill the glass with ice. Stir for about 30 seconds, until the outside of the glass is frosted.
- Strain over one large cube in a chilled rocks glass.
- Express the orange peel over the drink and drop it in.
About the Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is the original definition of a cocktail made into a drink: spirit, sugar, water and bitters, nothing more. Good whiskey stays in front; the sugar rounds off its edges, the bitters add spice and a dry finish, and the dilution from stirring opens it up. Rye makes it spicier and drier, bourbon rounder and sweeter.
History
Earliest record 1806: The Balance and Columbian Repository (definition of the cock-tail)
Documented
In May 1806 a newspaper in Hudson, New York, The Balance and Columbian Repository, answered a reader's question by defining a "cock-tail" as spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters. That is the Old Fashioned in all but name. Jerry Thomas's 1862 How to Mix Drinks prints brandy, gin and whiskey cocktails on the same base of gum syrup, bitters and spirit. As bartenders of the 1870s and 1880s began adding liqueurs and absinthe, drinkers who wanted the plain version asked for a whiskey cocktail made the "old-fashioned" way, and the request became the name. Theodore Proulx's Bartenders' Manual (Chicago, 1888) is usually cited as the first book to print the recipe under that name.
Legend and lore
The Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky, is often said to have invented the drink in the 1880s for the distiller James E. Pepper. The club was founded in 1881, decades after the formula was in print, and no contemporary record supports the claim. The muddled fruit salad of orange slices and bright cherries that many drinkers know is a mid-20th-century American habit, not the original drink.
Variations
- Oaxaca Old Fashioned. Reposado tequila and mezcal in place of whiskey, agave syrup for sugar.
- Rum Old Fashioned. An aged rum with real character (Jamaican or a molasses rum) and demerara syrup.
- Wisconsin Old Fashioned. Brandy, muddled orange and cherry, topped with lemon-lime soda: a regional institution in its own right.
- Sazerac. The New Orleans relative: rye or cognac, anise-scented bitters and an absinthe rinse, served without ice.
Bartender's notes
- Use one large, clear cube if you can; it melts slowly and keeps the drink cold without drowning it.
- Taste before you strain. If it is hot and harsh, stir longer; if it is flat, it has had too much water.
