This drink was old-fashioned way back in 1895, when Kappeler called it the Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail in his book Modern American Drinks: How to Mix and Serve all Kinds of Cups and Drinks. He made the drink by dissolving a lump of sugar with a little water, then adding two dashes of Angostura bitters, a small piece of ice, lemon peel, and a jigger of whiskey. Seven years prior to that, Harry Johnson had made a similar drink with the addition of a couple of dashes of curacao. His recipe was titled the Whiskey Cocktail, so presumably those seven years seemed like a generation to Kappeler.
The Old-Fashioned can be a controversial drink on more than one front. Some bartenders add a splash of club soda, either before muddling or after mixing the drink, and others will add a little water. Neither of this ingredients should be in there as far as I'm concerned. But the thing that really raises the hackles of many cocktailians is the question of fruit. It is correct to muddle, say, a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry with the bitters and sugar before adding the ice and whiskey?
Historically, this is not the prescribed method - most vintage recipes call only for a twist of lemon to be added to the drink, the way in which President Eisenhower sipped the drink at New York's 21 Club, according to a 1973 Playboy article by Emanuel Greenberg. And in 1945, Crosby Gaige, a playboy himself, wrote, "Serious-minded persons omit fruit salad from Old-Fashioneds, while the frivolous window-dress the brew with slices of orange, sticks of pineapple, and a couple of turnips."
So when did the fruit find its way into this drink? It could have been during Prohibition if you listen to Ted Saucier, who said as much in his 1951 book Bottoms Up. Be that as it may, the fruit question is a serious one, and although may people in the twenty-first century except a small fruit salad to be muddled into the drink, a good bartender will always ask before proceeding.

old%2BFas.jpg
Foto: Cristian Manolache


Old fashioned:

Bourbon 2 oz
Sugar syrup 1/2 oz
Angostura bitters 2 dashes
  • Old fashioned
  • Stir Strain
  • Orange peel and cherry
Some fine words, full of wisdom, straight from the most authorized person to talk about this drink, Mr. Gary Reagan. After all those years of expertise behind the stick he cast light upon this once obscure drink. I bet that a big amount of this drink's popularity is due to pioneers like Mr. Gaz. When others were trowing in their shakers all those powders and chemicals this fine people looked back and brought forgotten techniques and lessons to the present day.
As you can tell by the recipe I'm not the fruit salad, nor the soda splash adept, but I like using sugar syrup because it just gets job done faster and the drink is more homogeneous. Yes, if there is someone in front of you it won't harm to show him a bit of artistry by muddling the cube and all that (in this case with the soda water, because helps dissolving the sugar), but when it goes straight to table no one can tell the difference. Thing is I'm not a speed demon, in fact I'm quite a slow lad, I compensate the lost seconds by organizing myself very, very well, but I find it highly unprofessional to let someone wait ages for a drink. It takes all the fun out of their experience.

Now let us hear from Dushan, an iluminati of the industry, how it's made.



References: Gary Reagan - Joy of Mixology