Should an Old Fashioned be made with bourbon or rye?

Both are correct. Bourbon gives a rounder, sweeter drink and rye a drier, spicier one.

Do you shake an Old Fashioned?

No. It contains no juice, so it should be stirred to keep it clear and silky.

How much sugar goes in an Old Fashioned?

About 5 ml of rich 2:1 syrup or one sugar cube for 60 ml of whiskey is a good starting point.

Old Fashioned Cocktail Recipe and History: How to Make It Right

Every bar list worth reading has an Old Fashioned on it, usually at the top of the classics. At Bar Pleiades it opened the La Tradition chapter: bourbon, demerara sugar, Angostura bitters and orange. Four ingredients, no shaking, no juice. If a bartender can make this drink well, it tells you a lot about everything else on the menu.

The original cocktail

The word "cocktail" first appears in print with a definition in 1806, in a newspaper in Hudson, New York, which described it as a stimulating liquor made of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters. That is, almost exactly, the drink we now call an Old Fashioned. Over the nineteenth century bartenders began adding things: curaçao, absinthe, maraschino. By the 1880s some drinkers were asking for their whiskey cocktail the "old-fashioned" way, meaning without the new additions. The name stuck.

You will often read that the drink was invented at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky. It makes a good story, but the timeline does not really work, since the style is older than the club. What the club and Louisville did do was help popularize the drink with bourbon. In the twentieth century, especially after Prohibition, the Old Fashioned picked up muddled fruit, soda water and a cherry, and for decades that was the standard version in much of America. The cocktail revival of the 2000s pushed it back toward its leaner origins.

Choosing the whiskey

Bourbon and rye both work, and they make different drinks.

Bourbon gives a rounder, sweeter Old Fashioned with vanilla and caramel notes. Choose one between 45 and 50 percent alcohol so it does not disappear under the dilution.
Rye is drier and spicier, closer to what many nineteenth century drinkers would have had in the northeast. It pairs especially well with orange.

Avoid very old, very oaky whiskeys. The tannin grows harsh when chilled and diluted. A solid, mid-priced, higher-proof bottle is the right tool.

Sugar: cube or syrup?

The traditional method starts with a sugar cube in the glass, wetted with bitters and a splash of water and crushed into a paste. It is a nice ritual, but undissolved sugar is common, and the drink changes as you sip. A rich syrup is more consistent. We use a 2:1 demerara syrup, made by dissolving two parts demerara sugar in one part hot water. Demerara adds a light molasses note that suits aged spirits.

One teaspoon (about 5 ml) of rich syrup is a good starting point for 60 ml of whiskey. Some people like up to 7.5 ml. Taste and adjust once, then write your number down.

Bitters

Angostura is the standard, and two or three dashes is plenty. A dash of orange bitters alongside it brightens the drink. If you want to experiment, a dash of a chocolate or aromatic bitters can work with bourbon, but start with the classic so you know what you are changing. Our home bar guide explains which bitters are worth owning first.

Ice and dilution

An Old Fashioned should be cold and slightly softened by water, not watery. The best way to control that is to stir it in a mixing glass with plenty of ice for about 20 to 30 seconds, then strain it over one large cube in the serving glass. The large cube melts slowly, so the drink holds its character for longer. Building it directly in the glass works too, but stir longer than you think you need. We go deeper on this in our guide to cocktail ice.

Garnish

Cut a wide strip of orange peel with as little white pith as possible. Hold it skin side down over the drink and squeeze it so the oils spray across the surface, then rub it on the rim and drop it in. The aroma is the first thing you notice when you lift the glass, and it is half of the drink. A cherry is optional. If you use one, make it a proper cocktail cherry, not a bright red candied one.

Common mistakes

Muddling fruit into the glass. It makes a fruit punch, not an Old Fashioned.
Too much sugar. The drink should taste of whiskey first.
Small, wet ice. It melts fast and leaves a thin drink.
Skipping the peel. Without the citrus oils, the drink feels flat.

The spec, explained

Every measure in our recipe card has a reason behind it. Sixty milliliters of whiskey is a generous single serve that leaves room for dilution. Five to seven and a half milliliters of rich syrup adds roughly the sweetness of one sugar cube without any grit. Two dashes of Angostura give spice and structure; one dash of orange bitters lifts the aroma. Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds, the drink picks up about 25 to 30 percent water, which brings a 45 to 50 percent whiskey down to a comfortable 30 percent or so in the glass.

Batching for a party

Because it contains no citrus, the Old Fashioned keeps perfectly in a bottle. For eight drinks, combine 480 ml whiskey, 50 ml rich syrup, 16 dashes Angostura bitters and 100 ml filtered water to stand in for the dilution of stirring. Chill the bottle in the fridge or the freezer for a few hours. To serve, pour about 80 ml over a large cube and express an orange peel over each glass. Your guests get a perfect drink in ten seconds and you get to enjoy the party.

Sourcing well

Whiskey: you do not need a rare bottle. A well-made bottled-in-bond bourbon or rye at 50 percent is often better here than an expensive, very old whiskey, whose oak can turn bitter when chilled.
Sugar: demerara or turbinado gives a gentle toffee note; white sugar is cleaner. Avoid maple syrup unless you are deliberately making a maple variation.
Bitters: Angostura is the classic. Keep a bottle of orange bitters too; a 50/50 combination is a nice house style.
Oranges: choose fresh, firm, thick-skinned fruit. Old, dry oranges have little oil left in the peel.

The fruit question

In the twentieth century, especially after Prohibition, many American bars muddled an orange slice and a bright red cherry into the glass. Some people still love it, and in Wisconsin the brandy Old Fashioned with muddled fruit and a soda top is a regional institution. Others regard fruit in the glass as heresy. Our view is simple: make the version you enjoy, but taste the plain one first, because it shows you what the whiskey actually tastes like.

Variations worth trying

Once the basic drink is right, the template is endlessly flexible. Swap the whiskey for aged rum, add a little maple syrup with rye, or try an aged Calvados with a dash of Peychaud's. The Oaxaca Old Fashioned, built on reposado tequila and a little mezcal with agave syrup, has become a modern classic in its own right. If you prefer a drink with more layers, the Vieux Carré is the Old Fashioned's sophisticated cousin from New Orleans.

The Old Fashioned: History, Proportions and How to Make It Properly