Hi, Friends of Cocktails! “No single cocktail is as iconic, as beloved, or as discussed and fought-over as the Old Fashioned” - those are the first words written by Robert Simonson in this book “The Old-Fashioned”. And this cocktail, the grandfather of them all, is what we’ll take a look at today. We’ll make it 4 ways, from the original cocktail that inspired the name, to its mid-life crisis, followed by its modern revival, and finally, what it might be like in the future.
The story of the Old Fashioned starts with the name Cocktail. While this term now covers most mixed alcoholic drinks, it was once a much more specific mix. In the heyday of cobblers, coolers, and flips, an 1806 newspaper printed that expenses of the loser at a local election included 25 glasses of cocktails. One reader wrote in to ask what that was and Harry Croswell answered: “Cocktail, then, is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters - it is vulgary called bittered sling.”
He goes on with some more political commentary, which we’ll happily steer clear of, but these 4 ingredients are all we need to make our first version. Back in those days Genever, Gin and Brandy might have been the main players, but in 1802, when Thomas Jefferson lifted the Whiskey tax of 1791, whiskey’s production really grew, especially rye, so let’s use that. It’s Cocktail Time!
The 1806 Whiskey Cocktail
● 60mL · 2oz Rye Whiskey
● 30mL · 1oz Water
● Boker’s Bitters
● 1 Sugar Cube
Begin by adding the sugar cube to an Old Fashioned glass and soak it with a few dashes of bitters. Then add a splash of water and muddle the sugar cube to break it apart and make it easier for it to dissolve. For bitters I couldn’t find the original, Dr. Stoughton’s Elixir Magnum from the 17th century, which David Wondrich considers the bitters that might have been used for the first cocktails, but I think a modern version of Boker’s Bitters will do just fine.
We can now add the whiskey, but feel free to try with other spirits, bonus points if it’s dutch genever. To that I’ll add a pony glass, or 1 oz, 30 ml of water. Stir this to dissolve the sugar, but as Simonson puts it, “if some sugar remains at the bottom of the glass, don’t fret. It didn’t bother your ancestors.” They actually had a small spoon, known as the “Old-Fashioned spoon” to scoop up the sugar at the end, as dessert, which you can place alongside the glass when served.
No garnish mentioned in the newspaper, and no ice either. Interestingly in 1806 is when Frederick Tudor, known as Boston’s Ice King, sent his first ship from Massechesuttes to Martinique with a cargo of ice. Ice trade would flourish in the next decades, becoming the standard for mixed drinks when Jerry Thomas printed his first book. With that said, let’s give this cocktail a try!
Firstly you’ll notice it’s warm, spirit-forward, spicy and herbaceous. At the same time, it’s easy to understand the appeal that would make people fall in love with it back then. In the next decades though, this simple cocktail went through a revolution of its own - and not just with ice added. It seems bartenders have always had a habit of curiosity and experimentation, finding new ways to add their flare to an established drink.
Fruit and liqueurs, such as maraschino, absinthe, or chartreuse started to be used as a way to create what some called The Improved Whiskey Cocktail. Some people liked it, others didn’t. Especially if it wasn’t properly labeled, and they didn’t know what they would get… sounds familiar? So the name “the Old-Fashioned Whiskey cocktail”, first time found in print in 1880, became popular with patrons that liked their drink made with a “back-to-basics” mindset.
A little sugar, a little bitters, a lump of ice, a piece of twisted lemon peel, and a good deal of whiskey. Sounds a lot like what was brought back in the latest cocktail renaissance, which we’ll cover later, but in between there were hard times for the Old Fashioned. The Prohibition didn’t help, and once bartenders started to get back to the trade much had changed. New trends, spirits, and styles of cocktails became fashionable as the 20th century rolled on.
Somewhere in there you were Old Fashioned if you ordered an Old Fashioned, and not in a good way. And with new cocktail books adding fruits like orange slices and cherries, adding soda water, and garnishing it with more fruit, the cocktail became a shadow of its former glory. However, to cover the wide range of cocktails known as the Old Fashioned, let’s make a mid-century version, something Don Draper might enjoy.
The Mid-Century Old Fashioned
● 60mL · 2oz Rye Whiskey
● A few dashes Angostura Bitters
● 1 Sugar Cube
● 1 Orange Slice
● 1 Candied Cherry
● A splash of Soda Water
Get a double-old fashioned glass for this, as was needed for extra ingredients. Add a sugar cube, a few dashes of Angostura bitters, throw in a slice of orange, a candied cherry, and add a splash of soda water. Give everything a good muddle, trying to dissolve the sugar and releasing the flavor of the fruits. Now add ice, pour in your whiskey of choice, and give the drink a quick stir, trying to keep the fruits at the bottom. Let’s
If this cocktail looks familiar it’s because when using brandy and flavored soda water, like 7-up, Sprite or Squirt, you’d get a Wisconsin Old Fashioned. As for the garnish, an orange slice and a candied cherry are perfect, now let’s give it a try. It’s fruity, still boozy, and actually less sweet than I expected. Don’t add 7-up and it’s drinkable… sorry, Wisconsin. Luckily, the Old Fashioned was one of the classic cocktails that had a real resurgence in the last 20 years or so.
The name cocktail has long been hijacked, so the spirit-sugar-bitters formula is now better known as the Old Fashioned family of cocktails. Rum Old Fashioned, Oaxacan Old Fashioned, Black Walnut Old Fashioned are just a few cocktails that became modern classics, but let’s make a modern Whiskey Old Fashioned the way I think respects the origins of the grandfather of cocktails, while providing the best drinking experience possible for the patron.
The Modern Old Fashioned
● 60mL · 2oz Bourbon
● 2 barspoons 2:1 Gum Syrup
● 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
● 2 dashes Cacao Bitters
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
Start with the ice - have a clear ice block ready, so it temperes while you make the cocktail. I’ll make it in a chilled mixing glass so I don’t get extra dilution from melting ice later. Now addthe syrup in place of sugar, the bittes, whiskey, and saline solution. Now add plenty of ice and stir well to mix, chill and dilute the cocktail. Strain it into a low tumbler glass over a clear ice cube and finish it off with an orange peel garnish, after you express the essential oils over the glass.
I like something less flashy, so a small coin works great in my opinion. And that’s the Old Fashioned, as I like to make it. Let’s give it a try, before we make the final version. It’s very balanced, straightforward, matching the tasting notes of the whiskey itself, with hints of vanilla, chocolate, banana. Playing with flavors using bitters can be fun and easy, as it allows us to discover new dimensions of taste.
Still, sometimes we are out of bitters or don’t feel like mankind sryups, so are there easier ways to make the Old Fashioned? Of course. One way is to get Liber&Co.’s Old Fashioned Syrup! It combines their Classic Gum Syrup with just the right amount of aromatic bitters and cold-pressed orange oil to make a one-step solution for a great, fast & easy Old Fashioned every time. Another way is to batch it, and have it ready in your freezer at all times, for whenever you’re in the mood for an Old Fashioned.
But in the sake of progress, we need to look at how to take the Old Fashioned to the next phase of its evolution. Now this might be “Back to the future” kind of a thing, since this is how the Old Fashioned got its name in the first place… but you never know. If molecular mixology gets super popular, this might be what the Old Fashioned evolves into in the next few decades.
2050 Old Fashioned
● 60mL · 2oz EtOH Heerings Gaard
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz 2:1 Gentian & Tonka Bean Gum Syrup
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Orange Tuile
● Angostura Gummy Bear
To make it I’ll use Heerings Gaard, a 12-day old not-whisky from EtOH, which I’ll add alonside the syrup and saline solution to a chilled mixing glass. Add ice, stir to chill and dilute, and serve over a clear ice block into a wonderful crystal glass. For garnish carefully place a piece of orange tulle on top, followed by a gummy bear made with Angostura Bitters. Perfection!
Nutty, spirit-forward with a bit of cherry and a bit of spice. It evolves further when enjoyed alongside the angostura gummy and the orange tuile. Gentian provides a nice bitterness, making for a perfectly balanced drink, and with that we’ve made it to the Bottom of The Glass. We’ve now covered the history and evolution of most classic cocktails, you can check them out here, but I’d love to hear suggestions on which one I should do a deep dive into next. Until next time, cheers, Friends of Cocktails!