Old Fashioned

3 oz Bourbon (or rye)
1 cube Sugar (or 1 tsp simple syrup)
3 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 twst Lemon peel (as garnish)
Instructions

Wet sugar cube with bitters and a dash of soda or water in an old fashioned glass, muddle, add ice and whiskey, stir to dissolve thoroughly, garnish

Notes

Some prefer a fruity garnish, including an orange slice, lemon twist, and 2 maraschino cherries. Some top with a splash of soda. Perhaps more so than any other cocktail, the Old Fashioned may be endlessly varied by using different spirits, or by adding a dash of curacao, absinthe, or other liqueur. Some would argue that these latter additions make it an "Improved" cocktail.

History

The original cock-tail, a combination of whiskey, sugar, bitters, and ice.

Cocktail summary
Posted by Dan on
Created by
Pendennis Club, Louisville, KY.
Year
1806
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_fashioned_cocktail

Curator
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Average
4.5 stars
(60 ratings)
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From other users
  • Too strong for my taste
  • I prefer a maraschino cherry, haven't noticed a difference between using a splash of club soda or regular water — ★★★★★
  • Rittenhouse 100 Rye BIB Also, suggest a barspoon of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur on occasion.
  • I prefer it lighter with 2oz. bourbon or rye
  • 2oz. Whiskey (Bourbon or Rye), 0.25 oz. Simple, a few dashes of Angostura, Orange Twist for garnish (Lemon if using Rye). Also good with Licor 43 in place of simple. Try other sweeteners.
  • Rye 3 Angestora 2 Peyschauds 2 Orange bitters
  • 2 oz, 1/4 oz, 2 dashes
  • Wide Orange peel garnish for this one.
  • Wouldn't a bourbon-based Old Fashioned get orange zest and a rya-based Old Fashioned get lemon zest?
  • Along the Bourbon Trail Garnish with slice of orange and a cherry -OR- with a twist of orange peel and a cherry.
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Comments

It's that time again - we now have 36 variations of the Old Fashioned, and I'm going to thin them out (by hiding them) based on how many people have the drink in their cocktail book - I feel it's better than either deleting them or merging them into this drink and making a note. Just as a heads up, I'm also going to do this to the Negroni and the Martini - any new variations of these three drinks will need to come from a great bar or be so compelling it deserves to be seen by everyone.  Thanks, Zachary

J.S-g. commented on 2/18/2017:

Made an altered version using 2 oz rye and a 1/2 oz of orange oleo saccharum and two dashes of Angostura. Made me think of the orange-forward on-tap Old Fashioned at the Union Kitchen (Copenhagen) I had a few years ago. Really nice and simple.