The Bourbon Cocktail Old Fashioned Recipe is essentially just a shot of whiskey that has been seasoned and sweetened. Though simple in design, the drink has endured since it was initially popularized over two centuries ago.
The earliest written definition of the cocktail category as a whole was compiled about 1806, and it asked for alcohol, sugar, water, and bitters. The Old Fashioned satisfies these criteria thanks to its combination of whiskey, sugar, water, and fragrant bitters. Of course, you could just just create the cocktail without learning any of the background. If your hunger has already been quenched, you should follow the second option.
Start by using good bourbon
If it’s not something you’d drink on its own, it has no business being the captain of a Bourbon Old Fashioned. (There are better ways to hide cheap whiskey, but this one isn’t one of them.) Cocktail enthusiasts then seem to divide into two camps: those who like simple syrup and those who prefer muddled sugar.
While using a barspoon of syrup might halve the time it takes to make a cocktail, it also removes some of the depth of flavor that comes from the syrup. Use granulated sugar or a sugar cube if you want your cocktail to taste authentically 19th-century. Simple syrup is the way to go if you want to give your drink a more contemporary flavor. (Though really, what’s the hurry? Bourbon Old Fashioned Recipe will continue to be popular. Please note that using simple syrup may increase the amount of water in your drink, so you may need to use less ice and mix it somewhat longer.
If you’ve already got the Bourbon Old Fashioned down, then you should try making it with rye whiskey, which gives it a slightly spicier flavor. The Old Fashioned is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule, so feel free to experiment with different types of liquor. People have been drinking the bourbon-spiked version for decades, so why change what works?
Ingredients Of Old Fashioned Recipe
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 teaspoon water
- 2 ounces bourbon (or rye whiskey, if preferred)
- Garnish: orange twist
Steps
- Add the sugar and bitters into a mixing glass, then add the water, and stir until the sugar is nearly dissolved.
- Fill the mixing glass with ice, add the bourbon, and stir until well-chilled.
- Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
- Express the oil of an orange twist over the glass, then drop into the glass to garnish.
