As perhaps the original cocktail, the Old Fashioned dates back more than 200 years. With four simple ingredients it smooths and sweetens the raw spirit. Bourbon or Rye Whiskey is typically used in the drink, although a variety of liquors can be used. Bourbon has a sweeter taste due to the high corn content in the mash, while the rye whiskey is spicy and not as sweet, giving it a little more bite.
Most of the local craft distilleries have an Old Fashioned, or their version of it. Durango Craft Spirits server The Porter using Demerara sugar. Devil’s Head Distillery makes their Old Fashioned with their barrel aged Aquavit and Mystic Mountain Distillery use their own coffee liquor as the sweetening base.
There is no right way to make an Old Fashioned. The cocktail wasn’t originally known by that name. While being one of the original cocktails, over time different ingredients were added and modified, sometimes making an entirely different drink. As cocktail connoisseurs began wanting to go back to the original ingredients they would ask for their drink “the Old Fashioned way”.
Ingredients:
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar or 1 Sugar Cube
3 Dashes Bitters
1 Teaspoon Water
2 Ounces Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
Garnish: Orange Peel and Cherry
Create!
- In a rocks glass, add the sugar and bitters first, then add the water. Stir the mixture until sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Fill the glass with large ice cubes, or one very large round or square cube if available, and add the bourbon. Stir to combine the ingredients.
- Express the oil of an orange peel over the glass, then drop in. Garnish with a cherry if desired.
