In today’s installment of This Old Cocktail, we are getting back to our roots. Nothing will make you want to belly up to the bar at the Elk’s Club quite like a well made Old Fashioned. Like the Tom Collins, the Old Fashioned enjoyed so much popularity in its heyday that there was a glass named after it, also known as a rocks glass or a lowball glass, the Old Fashioned glass is short and broad in stature with a thick glass bottom, ideal for its namesake, any other simple cocktail, or a couple shots of your favorite spirit over ice.
The Old Fashioned is the acme of simplicity, however if made incorrectly or tampered with it can be a horrid abomination of mixology.
While a few deviations from the original recipe are acceptable, you should never see an Old Fashioned made with soda water or sour mix, I’ve seen it both ways and sent it back to the bartender both times, for shame.
Here is how I make an Old Fashioned:
In an Old Fashioned glass put one sugar cube or a teaspoon of sugar, add to that two or three dashes of Angostura Bitters and a half shot of water, mix with a spoon until the sugar is dissolved. Add two shots of your favorite Bourbon Whisky (or Evan Williams if you’re out of your favorite).
Place a disc of orange in the drink, it should fit perfectly, and muddle with the back of the spoon. Drop in a maraschino cherry and two ice cubes, give it one last stir and enjoy this pure expression of the mixologists trade.