Stirred · 1806
Old Fashioned
Spirit, sugar, water, bitters. The drink the word cocktail was invented to describe.
Specification
| Bourbon or rye | 60 ml |
| Sugar syrup 2:1 | 7.5 ml |
| Angostura bitters | 2–3 dashes |
| Orange twist | 1 |
Method
- 01Add syrup and bitters to a rocks glass.
- 02Pour in the whiskey and add one large cube.
- 03Stir 20–30 seconds, adding ice as it shrinks.
- 04Express an orange twist over the surface, drop it in.
Where it comes from
In 1806 a New York paper answered a reader asking what a cock-tail was: spirits, sugar, water and bitters. Everything else became a flavoured variation, so drinkers who wanted the original started asking for it the old fashioned way.
If you change one thing: Stir over one large cube, not several small ones. Less surface area means slower dilution, so the drink stays whiskey-shaped to the last sip.