Skip to main content

Reciblog #2 - An Ode to the Old Fashioned

Let me paint a picture for you: it’s 2010, you’re in the basement of a friend who’s home from college. You’re having a couple of drinks, watching clips of Jackass, and he says he’s going to make you a whiskey cocktail.

“Whiskey?” you say, “I don’t really drink whiskey, can I get a Red Bull vodka instead?”
“Just trust me, you’ll love this” he assures you.

Fine, what the hell? You see him pull some random ingredients out from the cabinet - a sugar cube? That weird short bottle with the oversized paper label you see at every liquor store counter? What could he possibly be making? He stands there muddling and pouring and mixing like a chemist in a lab, and presents you a glass of what looks like straight whiskey served over fruit salad.

You put the glass up to your lips and take the first sip.... “this is fucking delicious” you exclaim as you go back for seconds, and thirds, and before you know it, you’re blacked out on your childhood friend’s couch. And just like that, your love for the Old Fashioned has been born.

The above scenario is pretty much how I came to know and appreciate the Old Fashioned way back in my college days. My methods for making them have evolved over the years, with a preference for higher quality spirits and garnishes taking the place of an abundance of muddled fruit, but my love remains unchanged. 

Honestly, what’s kept me so attached to this drink is its sheer versatility. It has no official recipe. As long as you have a spirit, a sweetener, and some bitters, you’re good to go. A nice garnish doesn’t hurt either. Traditionally, a good bourbon/rye, angostura bitters, and simple syrup are used in this cocktail. An orange peel and maraschino cherry are also popular garnishes. But if you’re looking for that drink, go check Youtube or Wikipedia. I’m here to share with you some of my favorite twists on this iconic intoxicant.


*Please note that the process for making these drinks are extremely similar, so I will outline it here before listing the recipes.*

Build your drink in a pint or mixing glass
Begin by pouring 2-3 dashes of bitters into the bottom of the glass.
Add your spirit and sweetener next.
Fill glass with ice and stir well with a bar spoon to chill and dilute.
Pour in short rocks glass over a large cube or sphere of ice. Smaller cubes are also fine, but a large single cube will melt slower and just looks cool.
Garnish with an orange peel, candied cherry, and whatever else you’d like to accompany your drink. Enjoy!

Here are four recipes I’ve come up with, with one for each season of the year!

Spring

Triple Crown Old Fashioned

3 oz Kentucky bourbon
2-3 dashes of mint bitters
1/2 oz of honey syrup (combine honey and water 1:1)
Garnish with lemon peel and fresh mint sprigs
Summer

 Rum Fashioned

3 oz good sipping rum (Diplomatico is my personal preference)
2-3 dashes orange bitters
Orange peel, rubbed around rim of glass and then added to drink, to garnish
*Note* Because rum tends to be sweet enough on its own, I usually leave a sweetener out of this drink. If the taste is too strong for you, by all means go ahead and use any sweetener of your choice. I’d recommend agave nectar or brown sugar



Autumn

Maple Walnut Old Fashioned

3 oz bourbon or rye of your choice
2-3 dashes of maple walnut bitters
1/2 oz (or more, to taste) maple syrup
Ice
Luxardo (or similar) cherry for garnish


Winter

Cranberry Old Fashioned

3 oz rye
2-3 dashes of old fashioned bitters
1/2 oz of cranberry simple syrup (to make this, I muddled a bunch of cranberries and then mixed with hot water. The flavor had just a hint of cranberry which was enough for this drink)
Rosemary sprig and cranberries to garnish

I hope you all find some inspiration from these recipes! Let me know what you liked or didn't like about this post or the recipes within it. All feedback is greatly appreciated!
What kind of bourbon do you like in your old fashioned? Or are you more of a rye guy/gal? Comment below and let me know!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reciblog #3 - Agnello Scottadito!

Easter is my favorite holiday. My family’s usual routine would consist of my relatives from Montreal coming down to visit, a Saturday cookout, and a giant Easter dinner on Sunday. And a lot of wine. Unfortunately, this Easter is going to be a little different thanks to COVID-19. No one is coming to visit, there is no cookout, and I’ll only be spending Sunday with my parents. Thankfully, coronavirus won’t stop me from still enjoying the main highlight of these weekends - the lamb. Now, you may want to ask me “what’s so special about this lamb”? Honestly, there’s no secret recipe that we used - just a basic marinade made of white wine, oil, garlic, and rosemary - but it’s the entire experience that made this tradition my absolute favorite. From going with my brother and cousins to Restaurant Depot or Arthur Ave (these trips deserving their own posts altogether) to pick up the meat, making the marinade and building a fire, to finally grabbing a perfectly charred lamb lollipop off...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reciblog #1 - Vodka sauce!

Despite being a lifetime pasta lover, I've never truly enjoyed penne alla vodka. No matter if prepared at home, or from a five star restaurant, it never quite did it for me. Be it the chewy bits of meat or gigantic chunks of onion and garlic, something about the texture was just off. Fast forward 20-odd years later my family has taken to simplifying holiday meals. One way we’ve done this is by purchasing pre-made vodka sauce from a local Italian grocery store. I know it may feel sacrilegious but let me tell you, this vodka sauce was one of the best that I’ve ever had. No bits of meat, no chunks of onion. Just a smooth, velvety sauce that coats pasta perfectly and tastes delicious. Now, I like to pride myself on making most of my food from scratch, and so I set off on a journey to try and replicate this sauce to the best of my ability. A couple of YouTube videos later and I was ready to roll. And now you can be too! Please note that I never measure anything out so all ingredients co...
1 comment
Read more