If you don’t know much about cocktails and you heard someone at a bar say ‘’give me an old-fashioned cocktail’’ you might think they are a regular. However, they are probably ordering the OG of cocktails; Old-Fashioned cocktail. This cocktail was the first alcoholic beverage to be referred to as a cocktail. The Old Fashioned recipe was invented in the early 1800s and was given the name Old-Fashioned in 1881 by a bartender who liked to mix things up a little. This old, but delicious drink is usually made with bourbon, bitters, club soda, muddled sugar, and some ice.
It has been a long time since the Old Fashioned Cocktail was invented, therefore, while the old recipe is still golden, there are now new varieties of the drink. The base of the recipe stays the same but some new ingredients come out to play with these recipes. There is nothing wrong mixing old with new and the following recipes are all worth a try.
• The Classic Old Fashioned Cocktail recipe
Before we get into the more festive recipes, we have to pay our respects to the original recipe. You can use this recipe to make a classic old – fashioned or use its a base of your own old – fashioned cocktail.
Ingredients:
Servings: 1
- 2 oz. Rye or Bourbon
- 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 sugar cube
- Club soda
How To:
- Place 1 sugar cube (or ½ teaspoon of loose sugar) in a cocktail glass(whiskey glasses work fine)
- Wet the sugar with 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters and a small amount of club soda
- Rotate the glass to give the sugar grains and bitters a lining
- Add a large cube of ice
- Pour the alcohol(Rye or Bourbon)
- Serve with a stirring rod and garnish with an orange slice.
• Vanilla Old Fashioned cocktail recipe
Who doesn’t like the taste of vanilla? Often, you can get a hint of vanilla while drinking a good bourbon or rye, the ultimate sweet taste is one of the best things that go with the bitterness of alcohol. This recipe brings bourbon and its good friend vanilla together to make the old – fashioned cocktail a little sweeter. Serving the Vanilla Old fashioned with a piece of cake or other sweet pastries will surely make your guests happy.
Ingredients:
Servings: 1
- 1-inch pieces orange peels
- 1-inch vanilla bean split in half
- 2 ounces of bourbon
- 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup
- 2 drops of orange water enhancer (orange syrup will work too)
- Club soda to taste
How to:
- Muddle the vanilla bean and orange peel at the bottom of the glass
- Add the bourbon
- Add the Vanilla syrup an orange water(or orange syrup)
- Stir and add the ice
- Top off with club soda
• Cherry Old Fashioned cocktail recipe
Cherries used to be a summer-only fruit but thanks to frozen fruits, we can now have them all year around especially in drinks and food. This recipe will work with both fresh and frozen cherries so you can enjoy it all year round. Bartenders used to ass a maraschino cherry in old – fashioned cocktails all the time but now, with this recipe, you can bump up the sweet/savory taste of cherries with your cocktail.
Ingredients:
Servings: 2
- 10-12 cherries(pitted)
- 4 oz. Of bourbon
- 1.5 Cherry brandy
- 2 dashes of Orange Bitters
- Club Soda
- 2 Cherries(for garnish)
How to:
- Muddle the pitted cherries in a cocktail shaker
- Add bourbon, cherry brandy, simple syrup, orange bitters, and ice into the shaker and shake until the container is cold.
- Fill two lowball glasses half full with ice
- Pour the mixture in
- Top with club soda
- Garnish with cherries
• Blackberry Lemon Old Fashioned cocktail recipe
A really refreshing and absolutely delicious spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail. Mixing bourbon and blackberries makes a very festive and rich flavor and this cocktail makes the best of it. With the colder weather approaching, it is time to reunite with all think bourbon and this is the perfect drink to make for the holiday get-togethers or just a quiet night in with your partner. Not only does this drink tasty, but it is also very pretty when served right.
Ingredients:
Servings: 1
- 4 blackberries
- 1 sugar cube or 1 tsp of loose sugar
- 1 half moon slice of lemon
- 4 dashes Angostura bitters
- 4 oz high-quality rye or bourbon
- ice
- blackberries for garnish
How to:
- Put the blackberries, sugar and lemon slice in a low ball cocktail glass.
- Top the glass with bitters.
- Muddle them all together with a wooden spoon.
- Add your bourbon or rye on top
- Stir together and add ice
- Garnish with whole blackberries.
• Bacon Bourbon Old Fashioned cocktail recipe
You read it right. Bacon! This beverage is served in National Pork Park in Nantucket during the festivals. The taste is strong but smooth and a little bit sweeter than expected. Using bacon fat to make a drink might sound strange but trust us, once you try it, you might end up making it every afternoon. You will first need to make the Bacon Bourbon before making the old-fashioned. The recipe to the bacon bourbon is below right above the old- fashioned recipe. Happy experimenting!
Bacon Bourbon:
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. bacon fat, melted (the smokier the bacon, the better)
- A 750-ml bottle of bourbon
How to:
- In a medium non-porous bowl, combine bacon fat and bourbon.
- Cover and let it sit at a room temperature for about 6 hours
- Place in the freezer overnight
- Strain the liquid from all solids with a cheesecloth
- Reserve bourbon and put it back into the original bottle or any bottle of your choice.
Bacon Bourbon Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
Servings: 1
- 2 oz. Bacon bourbon
- ¾ oz grade A maple syrup
- 2-3 dashes of orange bitters
- 1 piece of fresh orange peel
How to:
- In a cocktail shaker, mix bacon bourbon, maple syrup, a few dashes of bitters and ice.
- Shake and strain into a rock glass filled with ice
- Garnish with an orange peel
We hope you enjoy these delicious Old fashioned cocktail recipes this holiday season. Feel free to let us know what you thought of them below.