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No. 020 Cocktails · Whisky & whiskey

Old Fashioned

A sugar cube, bitters and a splash of water muddled, then whiskey over ice: slow, aromatic and strong.

A whiskey Old Fashioned over a large ice ball with orange peel
An Old Fashioned with orange peel Photo: Erich Wagner (www.eventografie.de), CC BY-SA 4.0

Recipe card

ml oz

Makes 1 drink · about 4 min to make

Ingredients

Ounces are US fluid ounces (29.57 ml), rounded.

Method

  1. Place the sugar cube in an old fashioned glass and saturate it with bitters.
  2. Add a few dashes of plain water and muddle until the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add the whiskey.
  4. Stir gently and garnish with an orange slice or zest and a cocktail cherry.
Glass
Old fashioned glass
Garnish
Orange slice or zest, and a cocktail cherry
Technique
Muddled
Difficulty
Takes practice

Printable recipe card Quantities as given in the IBA's official specification.

About the Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned is built in the glass: dissolve a sugar cube soaked in bitters with a little water, add ice and whiskey, then stir. The result is a strong, aromatic drink best sipped slowly.

Bourbon gives a rounder, sweeter drink; rye a spicier one.

Background

The drink is made by muddling sugar with bitters and water, adding whiskey (or sometimes brandy), and is traditionally served with ice in the glass that shares its name.

Tags: whiskey spirit-forward muddled

Go deeper

Sources

  1. IBA — Old Fashioned (official specification)
  2. Wikipedia — Old fashioned (cocktail)

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