Old Fashioned is a classic cocktail made with bourbon (or rye whiskey), simple syrup, and Angostura bitters.
History of Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned claims its roots to 1880s and particularly to a Louisville, Kentucky based prestigious gentlemen’s club the “Pendennis Club”.
It was created by a bartender as a custom drink for one of the members and quickly gained popularity across club’s members and guests.
The road to national popularity for the Old Fashioned cocktail began when in appeared in George Kappeler’s book “Modern American Drinks” in 1895.
In the book it was called “Whiskey Cocktail” and its recipe was described as:
Mixing-glass half-full fine ice, two dashes gum-syrup, two dashes Angostura or Peyschaud bitters, one jigger whiskey. Mix, strain into cocktail-glass; add a small piece of twisted lemon-peel or a cherry.
Kappeler, G. J. (1985). Whiskey Cocktail. In Modern American drinks: How to Mix and Serve All Kinds of Cups and Drinks (pp. 43–43). essay, The Merriam Company.
Of course since then the recipe evolved and changed over the years but it still has the same foundation and process as described in the first recipe.
Old Fashioned
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bourbon (or rye whiskey)
- 1/4 oz Simple syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 Orange twist (garnish)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a cocktail mixing glass filled with ice
- Stir until well chilled (20-25 full turns)
- Strain into an old fashioned glass over a large ice cube
- Garnish with orange twist (optional)
Old Fashioned variations today
- Mezcal Old Fashioned
- Tequila Old Fashioned
- Anejo Old Fashioned
- Banana Old Fashioned
- Gin Old Fashioned
- Vodka Old Fashioned
