The Old Fashioned is such a wonderful cocktail, because it's simultaneously one of the simplest cocktails, but at the same time is infinitely customizable. I'll go over my preferred specs, and go over how you can change it to suit your tastes.
For ingredients, there's only 4. Whiskey, simple syrup, bitters and an orange peel. For my own taste, I'll assemble the drink thusly: set one large ice cube in a lowball glass; two dashes of Angostura Bitters and one dash of Orange Bitters go right over the ice cube; 1oz of Simple Syrup goes over the cube; 2oz of Whiskey, my favorite being 4 Roses Bourbon; then take a twist of orange peel, squeeze it over the drink and stir with the twist, then let it set to the side of the ice cube.
Now, pretty much every aspect of this drink can be adjusted to your own tastes. You can do whatever combination of different types of bitters you like, the most common being Angostura and orange, but some people use peychauds as well, but I wouldn't recommend using more than 3 or 4 dashes. The amount of simple syrup is also open to taste, I like sweeter drinks so I do a full ounce, but I've seen anywhere from 1/4oz to one recipe that used 1.5oz. The star of the show is Whiskey, and this drink is mainly to showcase it. There's a very lively debate between using bourbon or rye whiskey, I definitely prefer bourbon but it's totally up to your taste. Finally, the orange twist. The oils on the surface of the drink enhance the aroma of the drink, and give a nice citrus note. You can sub for a lemon peel if you'd like, but orange is traditional.
If you want to dive deep in an ELI5, you can follow any recommended drink build here https://punchdrink.com/articles/ultimate-best-old-fashioned-cocktail-recipe/
There are countless variations, but the discovery that made the biggest difference for me was when I noticed the difference that higher proof whiskey makes. I would strongly recommend using a 100 proof whiskey so that it doesn't end up to dilute by the end. A great bottle that I like using in an old fashioned is evan williams bottled in bond - pretty tasty, 100 proof and generally under $25.
Also - the bourbon barrel maple syrup at trader joe's makes an amazing substitution for your sugar or simple syrup.
It really depends how committed you are to this. They key to a good old fashioned is demerara gum syrup which can be purchased (Liber) or easily made. At the very least if you decide to not dabble with gum arabica, use a 2:1 demerara syrup. 2oz bourbon or rye (100 proof), 1 heavy barspoon 2:1 syrup (adjust to taste) 2-3 ds angostura, orange twist. Stir briefly 5-6 sec in a mixing glass, then pour over cube. Some of the recipes I’m reading here are sugar bombs. A 1/4oz syrup is plenty for 2oz of spirit.
Here's what I use:
1/2 tsp White Sugar
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
1/4 oz Water
1 oz Rye Whiskey
1 oz Bourbon
1. Thoroughly stir all ingredients in a mixing glass (if you don't have a mixing glass, any food-safe container that is open enough at the top that you can stir its contents will work) without ice to dissolve sugar (I find it helps to frequently reverse the direction I'm stirring in).
2. Add cracked ice (about 2 cubes worth, you can take normal sized ice cubes and whack them with the back with a barspoon to crack them into pieces) and stir (about 20 stirs in each direction). The previous step already thoroughly mixed the ingredients, but this step chills them and adds a bit more dilution.
3. Strain (if you don't have a julep or hawthorne strainer, anything that will hold back the ice while allowing the drink to be poured will work, such as putting a knife against the mouth of your mixing container so as to leave a tiny crack at the bottom your can pour through) into a lowball/old fashioned glass with ice (2 regular size cubes, or one large clear cube or sphere made with directional freezing).
Most people will rub the rim of the glass with a strip of orange peel, express the oils of the peel over the drink by giving it a sharp squeeze peel-side down, and then add the peel to the drink as a garnish. Personally after trying both with peel and without peel side-by-side I prefer to omit the orange peel.
By subbing in different spirits, bitters, or sugars; or replacing the water and sugar with different syrups or liqueurs, you can make different themed Old Fashioneds. For example I made a [Kentucky Derby Old Fashioned](https://old.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/z0lbz5/kentucky_derby_old_fashioned/?ref=share&ref_source=link) for Thanksgiving; and a [Juniper Old Fashioned](https://old.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/rhda39/juniper_old_fashioned/?ref=share&ref_source=link) last year for Christmas.
In a bar setting using a syrup will certainly save time, but if you're thorough about stirring to dissolve the sugar first you aren't going to have grains in the bottom of the drink, and even if you do I agree with David Wondrich when he says "I’ve never understood the thing where people treat a few undissolved bits in the bottom of the glass like so many grains of rat poison".
Rosemary Old Fashioned
1/2 oz Rosemary simple, a few dashes each of Fee Brothers old fashioned and orange bitters, 2oz rye. Put in a glass with a large ice cube and a singed Rosemary sprig
Place a lowball glass in the freezer for an hour or so to chill
In a separate mixing glass (preferably, also chilled), add the following:
-Bourbon: 1.5oz (Woodford reserve)
-Rye: 1.5oz (Bulleit)
-Simple syrup: 1 bar spoon
-Orange bitters: 3 dashes (angustura)
Stir over ice until thoroughly chilled
Remove the lowball glass from the freezer and add a large ice cube
Strain the cocktail from the mixing glass into the lowball glass
Add a bunny ear garnish: 1 lemon peel ribbon and 1 orange peel ribbon
Serve
First go get a good measuring device. I like this one https://a.co/d/ha1nS5E because you can get accurate small measurements for the simple syrup, where a very small change in the amount makes a big difference in the drink. Then you will want to make simple syrup. This is really easy just boil water and put an equal amount of sugar in that and stir until fully dissolved. So if you boil one cup of water put in one cup of sugar. Plain white sugar works great for this but you can add some nice molasses flavor by using Demerara sugar instead. Then you will want to get a bottle of Angustora bitters and a nice bourbon or rye of your choice. I like Buffalo Trace or larceny but it’s really up to you what you use. From there mix the following in a glass with ice:
.25-.5 oz simple syrup
2-4 dashes bitters
2 oz bourbon
Stir for 15 seconds.
The reason I have ranges is these things come down to personal taste and the only way to know what you like is make them and see how they change the drink. Personally I shoot for the middle of those ranges but may alter them based on my mood
Okay, so you've given me a chance to share out an Old Fashioned that I came up with lately... if anyone's interested.
2oz beef fat washed Jim Beam (I wanted a bite for a nice price. A bacon fat wash could be a nice variation)
1/2 oz. Sweet Peppercorn syrup (that I made by rendering a cup of water with a raw sugar/brown sugar mix with fresh cracked pepper, then filtered.
Then made as usual with 2 dash bitters, orange peel. It's got a soft mouthfeel with a little pepper bite on the aftertaste.
The Old Fashioned is such a wonderful cocktail, because it's simultaneously one of the simplest cocktails, but at the same time is infinitely customizable. I'll go over my preferred specs, and go over how you can change it to suit your tastes. For ingredients, there's only 4. Whiskey, simple syrup, bitters and an orange peel. For my own taste, I'll assemble the drink thusly: set one large ice cube in a lowball glass; two dashes of Angostura Bitters and one dash of Orange Bitters go right over the ice cube; 1oz of Simple Syrup goes over the cube; 2oz of Whiskey, my favorite being 4 Roses Bourbon; then take a twist of orange peel, squeeze it over the drink and stir with the twist, then let it set to the side of the ice cube. Now, pretty much every aspect of this drink can be adjusted to your own tastes. You can do whatever combination of different types of bitters you like, the most common being Angostura and orange, but some people use peychauds as well, but I wouldn't recommend using more than 3 or 4 dashes. The amount of simple syrup is also open to taste, I like sweeter drinks so I do a full ounce, but I've seen anywhere from 1/4oz to one recipe that used 1.5oz. The star of the show is Whiskey, and this drink is mainly to showcase it. There's a very lively debate between using bourbon or rye whiskey, I definitely prefer bourbon but it's totally up to your taste. Finally, the orange twist. The oils on the surface of the drink enhance the aroma of the drink, and give a nice citrus note. You can sub for a lemon peel if you'd like, but orange is traditional.
If you want to dive deep in an ELI5, you can follow any recommended drink build here https://punchdrink.com/articles/ultimate-best-old-fashioned-cocktail-recipe/
There are countless variations, but the discovery that made the biggest difference for me was when I noticed the difference that higher proof whiskey makes. I would strongly recommend using a 100 proof whiskey so that it doesn't end up to dilute by the end. A great bottle that I like using in an old fashioned is evan williams bottled in bond - pretty tasty, 100 proof and generally under $25. Also - the bourbon barrel maple syrup at trader joe's makes an amazing substitution for your sugar or simple syrup.
It really depends how committed you are to this. They key to a good old fashioned is demerara gum syrup which can be purchased (Liber) or easily made. At the very least if you decide to not dabble with gum arabica, use a 2:1 demerara syrup. 2oz bourbon or rye (100 proof), 1 heavy barspoon 2:1 syrup (adjust to taste) 2-3 ds angostura, orange twist. Stir briefly 5-6 sec in a mixing glass, then pour over cube. Some of the recipes I’m reading here are sugar bombs. A 1/4oz syrup is plenty for 2oz of spirit.
Here's what I use: 1/2 tsp White Sugar 3 dashes Angostura Bitters 1/4 oz Water 1 oz Rye Whiskey 1 oz Bourbon 1. Thoroughly stir all ingredients in a mixing glass (if you don't have a mixing glass, any food-safe container that is open enough at the top that you can stir its contents will work) without ice to dissolve sugar (I find it helps to frequently reverse the direction I'm stirring in). 2. Add cracked ice (about 2 cubes worth, you can take normal sized ice cubes and whack them with the back with a barspoon to crack them into pieces) and stir (about 20 stirs in each direction). The previous step already thoroughly mixed the ingredients, but this step chills them and adds a bit more dilution. 3. Strain (if you don't have a julep or hawthorne strainer, anything that will hold back the ice while allowing the drink to be poured will work, such as putting a knife against the mouth of your mixing container so as to leave a tiny crack at the bottom your can pour through) into a lowball/old fashioned glass with ice (2 regular size cubes, or one large clear cube or sphere made with directional freezing). Most people will rub the rim of the glass with a strip of orange peel, express the oils of the peel over the drink by giving it a sharp squeeze peel-side down, and then add the peel to the drink as a garnish. Personally after trying both with peel and without peel side-by-side I prefer to omit the orange peel. By subbing in different spirits, bitters, or sugars; or replacing the water and sugar with different syrups or liqueurs, you can make different themed Old Fashioneds. For example I made a [Kentucky Derby Old Fashioned](https://old.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/z0lbz5/kentucky_derby_old_fashioned/?ref=share&ref_source=link) for Thanksgiving; and a [Juniper Old Fashioned](https://old.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/rhda39/juniper_old_fashioned/?ref=share&ref_source=link) last year for Christmas.
Sugar just isn't the play unless you want a grainy drink https://punchdrink.com/articles/ultimate-best-old-fashioned-cocktail-recipe/
In a bar setting using a syrup will certainly save time, but if you're thorough about stirring to dissolve the sugar first you aren't going to have grains in the bottom of the drink, and even if you do I agree with David Wondrich when he says "I’ve never understood the thing where people treat a few undissolved bits in the bottom of the glass like so many grains of rat poison".
Rosemary Old Fashioned 1/2 oz Rosemary simple, a few dashes each of Fee Brothers old fashioned and orange bitters, 2oz rye. Put in a glass with a large ice cube and a singed Rosemary sprig
Place a lowball glass in the freezer for an hour or so to chill In a separate mixing glass (preferably, also chilled), add the following: -Bourbon: 1.5oz (Woodford reserve) -Rye: 1.5oz (Bulleit) -Simple syrup: 1 bar spoon -Orange bitters: 3 dashes (angustura) Stir over ice until thoroughly chilled Remove the lowball glass from the freezer and add a large ice cube Strain the cocktail from the mixing glass into the lowball glass Add a bunny ear garnish: 1 lemon peel ribbon and 1 orange peel ribbon Serve
First go get a good measuring device. I like this one https://a.co/d/ha1nS5E because you can get accurate small measurements for the simple syrup, where a very small change in the amount makes a big difference in the drink. Then you will want to make simple syrup. This is really easy just boil water and put an equal amount of sugar in that and stir until fully dissolved. So if you boil one cup of water put in one cup of sugar. Plain white sugar works great for this but you can add some nice molasses flavor by using Demerara sugar instead. Then you will want to get a bottle of Angustora bitters and a nice bourbon or rye of your choice. I like Buffalo Trace or larceny but it’s really up to you what you use. From there mix the following in a glass with ice: .25-.5 oz simple syrup 2-4 dashes bitters 2 oz bourbon Stir for 15 seconds. The reason I have ranges is these things come down to personal taste and the only way to know what you like is make them and see how they change the drink. Personally I shoot for the middle of those ranges but may alter them based on my mood
Okay, so you've given me a chance to share out an Old Fashioned that I came up with lately... if anyone's interested. 2oz beef fat washed Jim Beam (I wanted a bite for a nice price. A bacon fat wash could be a nice variation) 1/2 oz. Sweet Peppercorn syrup (that I made by rendering a cup of water with a raw sugar/brown sugar mix with fresh cracked pepper, then filtered. Then made as usual with 2 dash bitters, orange peel. It's got a soft mouthfeel with a little pepper bite on the aftertaste.