100 Best Old Fashioned Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best Old Fashioned in the world? ›

BEST OLD FASHIONED IN THE WORLD 2 oz Jack Daniel's Single Barrel 4 dashes Angostura Bitters 4 dashes Orange Bitters 1 tsp Rich Syrup - Demerara 2 drops Salt Water Orange Peel, Lemon Peel A touch of love Listen, this ain't a Wisconsin fruit salad in a glass, I didn't use rye whiskey, and a lemon peel slaps in an old ...

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.

DO NOT shake an Old Fashioned, always stir it. This has nothing to do with temperature but everything to do with texture. Shaking it will add air and water, diluting the co*cktail too quickly. Since the drink is primarily spirit, all you have to do is gently stir with ice, allowing for a smooth, velvety texture.

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.

Rye whiskey is known for its strength and spiced notes. That's why it lends beautifully to an Old Fashioned. From the whiskeys in this list, we'd recommend Bare Knuckle Straight Wheat Whiskey and Old Hamer Straight Rye. But there are countless other rye options to explore.

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.

With bitters, a little bit goes a long way. Two or three drops will add much depth to your Old Fashioned.

The classic recipe, according to most mixologists, calls for Brown Demerara sugar cubes. Sugar cubes are previously measured, allowing for consistent whiskey to bitters ratios. The Angostura aromatic bitters have a rich scent of fruits and spices and are a necessary component of any classic Old Fashioned co*cktail.

As mentioned earlier, the Old Fashioned is commonly made with either lemon or orange garnish. It's not uncommon now for folks to add a Maraschino cherry, though some feel very strongly that “fruit” does not belong in an old fashioned.

Why is my Old Fashioned bitter? ›

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.

A dash of bitters is usually 6-8 drops or 1/8th of a teaspoon.

A traditional Old Fashioned is made with regular oranges, so you can always do that! And really, any type of orange will taste great in this co*cktail.

World-renowned mixologists from Sydney's Dean & Nancy on 22 and Melbourne's Sky Bar have created a rare Old Fashioned co*cktail using a list of luxury ingredients. The $15,000 take on the classic drink, which traditionally contains whiskey, bitters and water, has been dubbed the Woodford Reserve Gold Fashioned.

That's because the Brandy Old Fashioned is the (un)official co*cktail of Wisconsin. Nationally, Old Fashioneds are typically made with rye or bourbon whiskey, but the true Wisconsin Old Fashioned is made with brandy -- Korbel by tradition.

The first whiskey old fashioned recipe was printed in 1895 in Modern American Drinks by George Kappeler. His recipe instructs the reader to dissolve a lump of sugar in water, add two dashes of bitters, a piece of ice, lemon-peel and one jigger whiskey.

There are few drinks manlier than an Old Fashioned. But the simple syrup in this staple (as well as co*cktails like a Whiskey Sour) isn't so simple, nutritionally speaking. “Just 1-ounce packs in over 5 teaspoons of added sugar,” Holthaus says. “And a 6-ounce Old Fashioned will cost you around 260 calories.”