Old Fashioned: the oldest cocktail and one big ice cube
In 1806 an American newspaper first defined a cocktail as spirits with sugar, water and bitters. The Old Fashioned is exactly that formula. There is no juice to hide mistakes, so every detail counts, the ice most of all.
Ingredients
- 60 ml bourbon or rye whiskey
- 5 ml sugar syrup (or 1 sugar cube)
- 2 to 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- Orange peel
- One large 5x5x5 cm cube for the glass
- Ice cubes for stirring
Method
- Put the large cube in a rocks glass.
- Add whiskey, syrup and bitters to a mixing glass.
- Fill the mixing glass with ice.
- Stir for 25 to 30 seconds.
- Strain over the large cube.
- Express the orange peel over the glass, run it round the rim and drop it in.
Why one large cube
An Old Fashioned is sipped over 15 to 20 minutes. Small cubes melt in that time and turn the whiskey watery. A large 5x5x5 cm cube has far less surface for its weight, so it chills slowly and evenly: the drink evolves gradually, opening up new notes in the whiskey. A clear cube also looks like fine crystal in the glass.
Stir, don't shake
All-spirit cocktails are stirred to stay clear and silky. Shaking adds air and ice shards and clouds the drink. Medium HOSHIZAKI cubes work best in the mixing glass: they chill fast and evenly.
Sugar cube or syrup
The old school muddles a sugar cube with bitters and a splash of water in the glass. It's a ritual, but the sugar doesn't always dissolve fully. Syrup gives a consistent result, especially in a busy bar. Demerara syrup adds a caramel note.
Variations
Rum Old Fashioned with dark rum, Oaxaca Old Fashioned with reposado tequila and mezcal, or the classic with rye, drier and spicier than bourbon.
