Teach Me How To Make An Old Fashioned
90+ Irishman
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 7,868
Ok so besides Bloody Mary's (my personal cocktail specialty), whiskey and cokes, Martina's and White Russians and margaritas are about the only mixed drinks I've ever done. I normally drink everything either neat or on the rocks. I've never made an Old Fashioned and know I don't have everything I need to do so. I know that bitters are involved and that I don't have any yet, but I've also seen just how many different flavored bitters are out there. So which one do I want and what's the "right" way to do an Old Fashioned? Thanks all! I kinda liked how LiquidChais showed pics of him making his drink, anyone able to do this since I'm a bit of a visual learner?
Comments
Start with a rocks glass, and place the sugar cube. Add 2-3 dashes of bitters on top of the cube, add a small amount of water (maybe a teaspoon). At this point you mash it together and combine those ingredients with either a spoon or a wooden muddler if you have one.
Add a couple ounces of bourbon, some ice (i prefer the big cube or sphere to not water down the bourbon too much) and garnish with a cherry and orange slice if you choose. Enjoy!
A couple things to note, I have seen simple syrup used instead of sugar cube. I have seen club soda used instead of water. And I have seen people muddle the fruit when breaking down the sugar cube. The last one I don't recommend unless you want it sweeter. And I don't like the "paste" for lack of a better term that's created with mashing the cherry and sugar together.
For the bourbon I would recommend something along the lines of a Woodford Reserve. Sorry no pics!
single sugar cube, soak it with three dashes of Angostura bitters, allow them to soak into the sugar (Angoustura is the standard)
Add a tiny splash of water to help dissolve the sugar, muddle into a syrup with a cocktail muddler.
Add two ounces of whiskey and swirl in the glass. Choose a straight bourbon or a rye.
Stop here, you're done.
but the drink's evolved over the years and has many forms these days. can be made with a twist of orange and/or orange or lemon zest, simple syrup instead of sugar cube, different bitters., marichino cherry, ice cubes, etc.
i'd say start with the Angoustura bitters since they are more or less the "standard"; then experiment down the road.
and as far as the old fashioned start with that first simple recipe, personally i prefer it with a twist of orange and ice cubes but start simple and add more/tweak the ingredients later.
also woodford's prob my fav whiskey to use in a old fashioned (not sure why) but work your way through the liquor cabinet and find your fav.
Take 2-3 maraschino cherries (without stems) and 2 orange slices (wash the orange first!) and put them in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add to this 2 dashes of Angostura bitters and ~1 tsp white sugar (I've never experimented with other bitters and other sugars, but I'd like to). Muddle. I use the pestle of a small mortar and pestle set for this, but they sell muddlers or you can use the back of a teaspoon fairly easily. Add ice to fill the glass. Add spirit. Anything in the whiskey ballpark will work, I like bourbon, and I think Maker's works really well in old fashioned and manhattan cocktails. I'm not sure I'd use anything closer to barrel proof. I then stir to mix all of the fruity and bitters goodness in with the spirit and allow the ice to dilute slightly and then taste. If it's too strong, I put a little cherry juice over the top. Garnish with a cherry with the stem still on.
Note: When muddling, take care to mash up the rind of the orange as well as the pulp, this will release a lot of good oils and flavor that you'd miss otherwise.
Another note: Some people don't like all that pulp floating around. In that case, after adding the spirit and stirring around to mix, get a second glass, fill will ice, and strain the one into the other. THEN taste, add cherry juice if necessary, and garnish.
Start with a cherry and an orange slice, muddle in the bottom of glass with 2 dashes of bitters, add ice and a shot of simple syrup, add your bourbon/whiskey/brandy of choice and then if you like it sweet you finish with 7 up/sierra mist or if you like it sour you use a 50/50 or squirt.
If you go out to any supper club in Wisconsin any night of the week you see at least half of the patrons drinking these.
and those are just a few ideas for the "new twists" --- google "old fashioned" recipe and you'll get sucked into a rabbit hole with 1000s of slightly different tweaks.
But now with all these great recipes I absolutely HAVE to make one.
-Jen
makers works alright, but I think its a little light. Woodford is great, it has a bite that stands up to the ice and orange. I like it less sweet, so I go light on sugar. Orange adds a lot of sweetness to if you squeeze some juice out. I usualy do a twist of peel in there too.