3 Old Fashioned

What’s up guys! Don’t know about you but I’m the kind of man who believes it’s always fun to talk about cocktails and today is no exception.

When I first started bartending, the Old Fashioned was for me the Holy Grail of cocktails. It transformed what I found back then to be a strong, harsh and throat burner spirit into a smooth and sweet deliciousness. Of course, before I was using way too much sugar because, let’s face it… I didn’t like much the taste of straight booze back then. Well, those days are long gone. Even though I decreased by half the amount of sugar I was using before, I still find the Old Fashioned cocktails a tad bit on the sweet side. But when I’m in the mood, it’s a great sipper. For whom the Whiskey cocktail is their jam, here’s three recipes you have to try if you haven’t already.

REGULAR OLD FASHIONED

For those who just got into the cocktail thing, the Old Fashioned is like the base of all. First described in the early 1800 as a mix of spirit, sugar, water and bitters, it evolved a lot, sometimes for the best and sometimes not. So to be able to play around it, we need to understand the ABC of this. Let’s throw a Classic Old Fashioned to start. For those reading this post to get ideas on how to make a riff on their OF, just skip this first recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Bourbon
• ¼ oz Simple syrup
• 3 Dashes Angostura bitters
• Garnish: Orange zest

I hear some purists screaming SUGAR CUBE!!! But I like to use simple to control the exact amount of sugar input in my drink. Simple syrup is equal part of sugar and water, dissolved and then stored in the fridge. NB it’s also super useful to sweeten your coffee or tea. Just saying.

METHOD:

1. Pour all ingredients in a mixing glass, fill it up with ice and stir. This will cool down your cocktail and will bring some dilution to make it smoother. Be careful not to stir it too much or it will get watery. I’d say 15 seconds should do the trick.
2. Then strain it into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
3. To garnish it, express a zest of orange on top of it and then “dump” it in a nice way in your drink. You can burn the orange oil if you want to have a burnt orange smell to your Old Fashioned. I’m not a SUPER fan of this but for the sake of the show, I used the technique here. Full disclosure, it’s the first time I was able to master the photo technique and capture this moment! SOOO happy!!!!

OLD OAK’ FASHIONED

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Hornitos Black Barrel Anejo Tequila
• 5 ml Simple syrup
• 3 Dashes China China
• 3 Dashes Bittered Sling Malagasy Chocolate bitters
• Garnish: Orange zest

METHOD:

1. Pour all ingredients in a mixing glass, fill it up with ice and stir.
2. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
3. Garnish

LA CONFERENCIA

From the Death & Co MODERN CLASSIC COCKTAILS book

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ oz El Tesoro Reposado Tequila
• ½ oz Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
• ½ oz La Favourite Rhum Agricole Blanc
• ½ oz Santa Teresa Rum
• ¼ oz Cane Sugar Syrup
• 1 Dash Angostura bitters
• 1 Dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters
• Garnish: Orange zest

METHOD:

1. Pour all ingredients in a mixing glass, fill it up with ice and stir.
2. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
3. Garnish

Feel free to share your Old Fashioned cocktails in the comments!

Cheers

Jean-Félix

Old Fashioned is like the simplest cocktail to make. 3 ingredients, ice, a glass and your finger to stir. But if you want to up grade your home bar with awesome bar-related items, this is what I suggest.