Best Old Fashioned recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make an Old Fashioned taste better? ›

The best old fashioned recipes call for sugar to balance the alcohol. I use simple syrup, which quickly dissolves and is simple to make. It also allows us to play around and use brown sugar instead of white sugar for the syrup, giving our co*cktail a caramel-like flavor that works well with whiskey or rum.

Ice: Traditional old fashioned co*cktails are served over ice. Bourbon: Of course, you'll need bourbon! You can use rye whiskey instead, if you like.

An Old Fashioned calls for two to three dashes of bitters—no more, no less—that are added to the glass once the sugar or simple syrup is in. While the amount seems small, having too many or too few dashes can dramatically change the taste makeup of the drink.

Angostura is an aromatic bitters, but lean heavily toward cloves and dried cherries. I crafted our Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters (the name kind of says it all) to be what I thought were the perfect bitters for an Old Fashioned. Ours lean more on cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg with only a touch of cloves.

Use Rich Simple Syrup

The sugar cube is one Old Fashioned tradition that can definitely be skipped. While many recipes call for it, it offers no advantage over using a rich simple syrup and has several disadvantages. Most obviously, you have to find and buy sugar cubes and a muddler.

If it's a bit too sweet try another dash or two of bitters. Taste again. If it's too strong (alcohol seems overpowering) stir it a bit more to get the ice melting and make sure everything is mixed. If it seems to bitter add a touch more sugar.

If you prefer to be more heavy-handed on the bitters, I won't get mad at you). Try making an Old Fashioned without bitters though, and you just have a glass of whiskey with some sugar in it (who wants that?) It's a small ingredient in terms of proportion but bitters essentially make an Old Fashioned, an Old Fashioned.

What is the best whiskey for an Old Fashioned? ›

Gilway Demerara Sugar Cubes, 1.5 Ounces.

Some of the best co*cktail bitters available are Angostura, Regans' Orange, Peychaud's, Bittermens, and The Bitter Truth. A boom of commercially accessible bitters in myriad diverse tastes has accompanied the 21st-century co*cktail revolution. There are hundreds of different variations to pick from.

Ask for your drink to be more bitter or sweet.

If you want a more sweet Old Fashioned, ask for less bitters in your drink. Typical Old Fashioneds don't have much more than a splash of bitters in them. However, every bartender is different, and your bar could use more bitters on average.

In rocks glass, muddle splash of lemon-lime soda, sugar cube, 2 dashes aromatic bitters, cherries and orange slice. Add ice and brandy then fill with remaining lemon-lime soda. Add remaining aromatic bitters and orange bitters. Garnish with skewered cherry and orange peel.