Cocktail Hour

A Short History of the Old Fashioned.

This classic bourbon based cocktail has seen something of a revival in recent years. A good thing in our view.

Paul Henreid & Bette Davis being served  an Old Fashioned in Now, Voyager (1942)

The Old Fashioned goes back a while.

The mixture of spirits, water, sugar and bitters originally came in to being as a morning bracer circa 1800. Often referred to as a Bittered Sling, gin, rum, bourbon or whiskey were freely interchanged. One argument is that spirits at the time were not of as high a quality as today, thus ways were found to flavour or sweeten them.
The addition of bitters, with its medicinal botanicals, technically makes the Old Fashioned an aperitif, served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. We're fond of a drink here at NU, however, hitting the hard stuff prior to our morning Weetabix is a bit much!

It is generally accepted that the Old Fashioned proper was invented around 1881 in Kentucky by the barman at The Pendennis Club in honour of a Colonel Pepper.

There are a multitude of differing recipes out there, specifying all sorts of bells and whistles. Ignore them.
The best cocktails are classics for a reason - they have been kept simple. Resist the urge to garnish with large wedges of fruit, cherries and so forth. You are not making a fruit salad.

Friday is here at last!

Ingredients / Equipment:

• 60ml Bourbon or Rye
• 20ml Simple Syrup*
• Dash, Angostura Bitters
• Strip of orange zest
• I large ice cube*
• Old Fashioned glass*

Procedure:

• Pour the simple syrup in to the glass. 
• Add the bitters
• Pour in the bourbon 
• Rub the strip of orange zest over the glass to release the oils and throw in
• Muddle contents
• Add ice cube.

A word on sugar - too many recipes specify using a sugar cube. If you do so make sure you work the sugar in to a syrup with a little water before you add the spirits. If not you'll end up with an unsweetened drink and a load of undissolved sugary clag at the bottom of your glass.
Trust us, we've been experimenting with this!

Some recipes suggest using orange bitters, this supposedly works better with a rye based Old Fashioned, though we have not tried this yet. One school of thought holds that one should use rye only, the argument being that most modern bourbons are sweet enough.

Rye whiskey is a little difficult to get hold of now, but once some is procured we shall further our researches.+

If anyone has experimented further please do report in your findings.

Bottoms up!

*For a Simple Syrup recipe see our post on The Gimlet.
*Not sure what came first, the glass or the cocktail. Any small tumbler or rocks glass will do.
*Don't over do the ice, why dilute all that bourbon?
+If you do want to experiment, but can't find a true rye whiskey, have a go with Canadian Club as it has a high rye content.