1 | The Old-Fashioned, Cocktail Codex

THE CLASSIC RECIPE

A version of the Old-Fashioned cocktail can be found in almost any respectable cocktail book. In its simplest form, it is just spirit, sugar, bitters, and water (in the form of ice) and frequently looks very similar to this recipe:

Old-Fashioned

1 sugar cube

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 ounces bourbon

Garnish: 1 lemon twist and 1 orange twist

Muddle the sugar cube and bitters in an Old-Fashioned glass. Add the bourbon and 1 large ice cube and stir until chilled. Garnish with the lemon and orange twists.

OUR ROOT RECIPE

As you can see from the classic recipe, the Old-Fashioned is basically a glass of booze that’s been sweetened with sugar and seasoned with bitters. That’s the crux of what makes an Old-Fashioned an Old-Fashioned: a spirit makes up what we call the core—the defining flavor of the cocktail. Over years of making Old-Fashioneds, we’ve tweaked the classic “spec” (bartender slang for recipe) into our ideal Old-Fashioned in several ways.

First, we select a bourbon that’s distinct without being too dominant. The world of bourbon has many options that can take the Old-Fashioned in different directions. Bourbons are bottled to various proofs and can be made from different mixes of sweet and spicy grains: more corn and the bourbon is sweeter; more rye and it will be dry and spicy. For the root recipe we’ll present shortly, we chose a bourbon that sits in the middle of the spectrum, being both full-bodied and full of personality: Elijah Craig Small Batch. It also happens to be affordable.

Second, the classic Old-Fashioned starts with muddling a sugar cube. We find this technique outmoded because a sugar cube doesn’t dissolve easily, so we use a sugar syrup to ensure that the sugar is distributed throughout the cocktail. But adding standard simple syrup in a proportion equivalent to the sugar cube—¼ ounce—would dilute the cocktail too much, given that simple syrup is comprised of equal portions of sugar and water. So we instead use our denser Demerara Gum Syrup (this page), which adds a rich viscosity to the cocktail while also drawing out some of the whiskey’s aged characteristics.

Third, to deepen the structure that Angostura bitters provides and create more intrigue, we include an additional dash of Bitter Truth aromatic bitters, which provides a barely perceptible layer of cinnamon and clove that further emphasizes the bourbon’s flavor profile.

Fourth, and finally, we garnish the Old-Fashioned with both lemon and orange twists. We first squeeze, or express, the orange twist over the cocktail, and then rub it gently around the rim of the glass so the sweet orange oils not only perfume the cocktail but also become an element of the first sip. We then express the lemon twist over the cocktail, but because lemon oil is less sweet and more pungent than orange—and can ruin the drinker’s palate for the entire cocktail—we don’t rub it around the rim. Both twists are then inserted vertically into the cocktail so they continue to flavor the drink, or may be removed by the drinker if desired. (For an in-depth discussion of citrus twists, see “The Seasoning: Garnishes,” on this page.)

The result of all this tweaking is our ideal Old-Fashioned:

Our Ideal Old-Fashioned

2 ounces Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon

1 teaspoon Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 dash Bitter Truth aromatic bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist and 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the orange twist over the drink, then gently rub it around the rim of the glass and place it into the drink. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then place it into the drink.

THE ORIGINAL COCKTAIL

What is an Old-Fashioned? Ask ten bartenders and you’ll get ten different recipes, each deemed to be “the one true way” to make the drink. On paper they may look very similar, but take a sip and they may be wildly different. In musical terms, the Old-Fashioned is less like a five-piece band and more of a soloist with light accompaniment, the dominant core flavor, whiskey, being the star of the show.

The Old-Fashioned is an exercise in restraint, with a seemingly simple formula: booze, sugar, bitters. Its straightforward recipe seems to imply that mastering the drink would be a cinch, but its minimalism means the Old-Fashioned is an exercise in subtly. Use a touch too much sugar and the drink starts to get flabby—sweet, without sharply defined flavor. A heavy hand with the bitters bottle will make the drink taste disjointed and medicinal, yet too little bitters will yield a drink that may register as nothing more than iced whiskey. It’s the perfect cocktail, then, to display how, with disciplined technique, a core flavor can be balanced and seasoned to create a harmonious result. Other root recipes, such as the Daiquiri (the topic of chapter 3), offer a bit more leeway in creating delicious results, but when it comes to the Old-Fashioned, the line is much finer. Precision is the name of the game.

In our view, the Old-Fashioned and its variations are best when the focus remains squarely on the spirit (or multiple spirits, though we generally stop at four) that makes up its core; any modifications should enhance the characteristics of that spirit. This cocktail is the most respectful way we can think to honor good booze. Other root recipes find their core flavor in multiple ingredients; for example, the Martini is defined by gin and aromatized wine. Because the Old-Fashioned keeps it simple, it’s a great cocktail for zeroing in on core flavor.

OLD-FASHIONED ORTHODOXY

The defining traits of the Old-Fashioned and its extended family of cocktails:

An Old-Fashioned is spirit driven.

An Old-Fashioned is balanced by a small amount of sweetness.

An Old-Fashioned is seasoned with bitters and a garnish.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEMPLATE

Those who gravitate to Old-Fashioneds tend to like boozy, or spirituous, cocktails. As a result, the Old-Fashioned can be a challenge for some people, as it may taste like firewater, especially if not made well. But if you like drinking spirits on their own, the Old-Fashioned and its many variations will probably appeal to you.

Drinking an Old-Fashioned activates all of your senses. The bottom-heavy glass with a large block of ice chills your hand, the bright aroma of citrus oil hits your nose as you lean in, and that first taste is sharp and boozy, yet smooth. And thanks to its high proof, an Old-Fashioned invites slow sipping and reflection.

Once you understand the Old-Fashioned’s basic blueprint, it’s easy to start manipulating it—which is exactly what we’ll do in this chapter. You’ll also start to notice how other iconic—and perhaps seemingly unrelated—cocktails, like the Mint Julep, Hot Toddy, and Champagne Cocktail—have surprisingly similar DNA. But first, let’s dig into the core components.

THE CORE: AMERICAN WHISKEY

There are several things about American whiskey that make it a great base spirit for cocktails. First, it’s one of the most tightly regulated spirits on the planet, so there’s a high baseline standard—that is, the worst American whiskeys are still pretty decent, if simple—and there’s also a high level of consistency within different styles: bourbon, rye, and so on. That said, due to increased global demand, there have been times when the whiskeys we love have been compromised in the interest of slaking a thirsty public. Producers that were once steadfast in only bottling whiskey above a certain age have started putting out younger whiskeys to meet market demand. So keep an eye on your favorite brands and taste them regularly.

All American whiskeys are made in a similar fashion. Cereal grains, predominantly corn, rye, wheat, and barley, are malted—a process wherein grains are germinated, converting their starch into sugars—and then fermented and distilled in either pot stills or continuous column stills. Most are aged in oak barrels.

Understanding the differences between various styles of whiskey and how they work in cocktails will help you choose the right bottles for your drinks. And although increased global popularity has pushed whiskey prices skyward, there are still plenty of affordable options for bartenders and home cocktail enthusiasts alike. Of course, there are lots of delicious high-priced whiskeys, but you don’t need the most expensive whiskeys to make the best cocktails. In the section that follows, we’ll outline the primary styles, then list our favorites for cocktails— Old-Fashioned and otherwise. While our suggestions don’t represent every brand we use, all are perennial fixtures in our bars thanks to their flavor profiles, consistency, value, and availability.

THE E (OR LACK THEREOF) IN WHISKEY

You’ve probably noticed that whiskey is sometimes spelled without the e. The Scots spell it without the e, a naming convention that was adopted by Scottish settlers in Canada and distillers elsewhere whose spirits were inspired by Scottish styles. The Irish include the e, and thanks to the influence of Irish immigrants in American whiskey making, spelling has largely been standardized to include the e in American-made whiskeys. That said, there are plenty of exceptions, so we’re reluctant to correct folks if they prefer one spelling over the other.

BOURBON

Bourbon is by far the broadest category of American whiskey, and because of that, it has the most stylistic variations. Our favorite mixing bourbons are those that spend enough time in oak barrels to develop rich flavor and texture, but not so much that the wood overtakes the spirit; we rarely mix with bourbons older than twelve or fifteen years. When choosing a specific bourbon for a cocktail, we also look at the makeup of the mashbill—that is, how much corn, rye, and/or wheat went into the product—and how each ingredient contributes to the flavor of the bourbon, and eventually the cocktail. Corn creates a perception of sweetness, rye a distinct spiciness, and wheat a delicate softness. While many of our preferred bourbons have a balance of these three ingredients, others showcase just one, so we reach for the latter when looking to amplify that flavor.

RECOMMENDED BOTTLES

Eagle Rare 10-Year: Made at the Buffalo Trace distillery—likely from the same mashbill as the eponymous (and also delicious) Buffalo Trace bourbon—Eagle Rare has a bit more age, along with a noticeable amount of rye, resulting in a whiskey with an extra hit of spice flavor. It’s fantastic on its own in spirit-forward drinks, but we also love combining it with other base spirits, particularly Cognac.

Elijah Craig Small Batch: Our benchmark whiskey for Old-Fashioneds is this diplomat, which works equally well across the aisles of shaken and stirred cocktails. It balances the sweetness of corn with a healthy punch of rye and is aged long enough to stand up to a wide range of other ingredients. This is classic bourbon that tastes mature but is affordable enough for everyday cocktail making.

Old Grand-Dad 114: Typically, we steer clear of mixing with spirits over 100 proof. For one, they can cause our guests to get tipsy far too quickly. In addition, high-proof spirits tend to overshadow other ingredients. Given that this bourbon clocks in at 57% ABV and has a high amount of rye in the mashbill, it might seem too aggressive for cocktails, but nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to some brilliant oak-aging alchemy, it’s shockingly drinkable on its own, without ice or water. (For most other bourbons above 100 proof, we often add a bit of water to make them more palatable.) And while we often argue that a proper Manhattan should be made with rye whiskey, Old Grand-Dad has enough personality to make a damn fine one. Just one caveat: Sip slowly, please.

Old Weller Antique 107: Pappy Van Winkle gets all the attention these days, but we love its cousin Old Weller (both are made from the same mashbill at the Buffalo Trace Distillery). The Old Weller is a highly accessible, wheat-forward bourbon. Although wheat can sometimes make bourbon too soft for mixing in cocktails, allowing it to be overpowered by other ingredients, the high proof of this bottling means it will still shine through in boozy cocktails like an Old-Fashioned or a Manhattan. And if you use it in a sour-style cocktail, the wheat sings when balanced with citrus.

Wyoming Whiskey: The craft spirits market is more crowded now than ever before. While this means we have more products to choose from, it also means consumers have to do their homework. Not all of the new brands are transparent about where and by whom the booze was made, and many of the new products are just bulk commodity-grade whiskey packaged with marketing flair. Wyoming Whiskey is a producer that eschews shortcuts and makes their whiskeys, start to finish, in Kirby, Wyoming. Using local grain grown within one hundred miles of the distillery, Wyoming Whiskey’s booze is stylistically bourbon but has a distinctive mineral note. It’s a direct reflection of the unique characteristics of Wyoming.

RYE WHISKEY

Prior to Prohibition, rye was the most popular spirit in America. But then US drinking habits shifted in a sweeter direction, and the rye industry took decades to recover. Until its recent resurgence, there weren’t many brands of rye that were widely available, and it still hasn’t reclaimed its place as the American whiskey of choice. Unlike bourbon, which must include at least 51 percent corn in the mashbill, rye flips the equation, containing at least 51 percent rye.

Rye’s spicy flavor blends well with other ingredients, acting a bit like bitters do in an Old-Fashioned. We conceptualize the flavor profile of rye much as we do the botanicals in gin: its distinct notes are like fingers that reach out and connect with other components of the drink.

RECOMMENDED BOTTLES

Rittenhouse Rye: Rittenhouse is a bonded whiskey, which means it must be aged at least four years and bottled at 100 proof. This high ABV makes it ideal for cocktails, giving it enough personality to come through in any style of drink. The downfall is that everyone knows it’s awesome, so it tends to go out of stock quickly. If you find a bottle, buy it and immediately go home and make a Manhattan (this page).

Russell’s Reserve 6-Year Rye: The Russell family has been overseeing whiskey production at Wild Turkey for two generations, and over the years their craft has only gotten better. This whiskey has all the spicy rye character you would expect, but beautifully balanced by a floral aroma and fruity flavor. There’s a subtle sweetness that makes Russell’s rye fantastic in Old-Fashioned and Manhattan-style cocktails, and it’s also soft enough to be mixed with citrus.

OTHER AMERICAN WHISKEYS

Bourbon and rye get all of the attention, but there are other styles of American whiskey worthy of use in cocktails, such as sour mash whiskey and wheat whisky. Though we don’t mix with these styles of whiskey often, we want to address them because there’s currently a boom in US production of whiskeys that don’t necessarily fit into the mold of bourbon or rye.

Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey: Based on the marketing, you might assume this whiskey is distinct because of the sour mash process (wherein a small amount of the previous grain mash is added in each new fermentation). However, this technique is also employed for all American bourbon. Whiskey from Tennessee is unique from other American whiskey because of the Lincoln County process, in which the spirit is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before being aged in oak barrels. This produces a lighter spirit that has a unique flavor profile: sweeter than bourbon, with an extra-long finish. Aside from that, Tennessee whiskey is much like bourbon and adheres to many of the same requirements. Of the two Tennessee whiskeys available (George Dickel and Jack Daniel’s), we find the Dickel more complex. That said, we seldom use Tennessee whiskeys in cocktails because we consider bourbon and rye to be more versatile and think they contribute more meaningfully to drinks.

Wheat Whiskey: Though some bourbons have a high concentration of wheat, including Maker’s Mark, Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald, and Pappy Van Winkle, true wheat whiskeys must contain 51 percent or more of the grain in the mashbill. There are only a couple of these on the market, one of which, Bernheim, we’ve used in drinks in the past. Its price point may be a bit prohibitive for cocktail use, but we’ve enjoyed some delicate Manhattan-style drinks made with it.

EXPERIMENTING WITH THE CORE

Riffs on the Old-Fashioned are almost as old as the cocktail itself. It didn’t take long for other ingredients to find their way into the “original cocktail” to create now-classic variations. The easiest way to improvise on this, or any, cocktail is with what we often call the Mr. Potato Head approach, a term coined by former Death & Co head bartender Phil Ward. The process is simple: take out one thing and replace it with something similar. Voilà! Mixology.

The beauty of the Old-Fashioned is that nearly any spirit can be used as the core as long as the other ingredients support and accent that spirit. Want a spicier Old-Fashioned? Eagle Rare 10-year bourbon is a great choice. A bit more of a kick? Old Grand-Dad 114 will pack a boozy punch. Or if you’re looking for a softer Old-Fashioned, try Old Weller Antique 107, with its wheat-heavy mashbill. We prefer an Old-Fashioned that balances these attributes, so in our root recipe (this page) we use Elijah Craig Small Batch, which gives the drink a smooth core and a strong but not overwhelming personality.

Another way to alter the core is to modify it through infusions. Because the Old-Fashioned is composed mostly of a spirit, simply infusing that spirit with other flavors can create a strikingly different cocktail. In the appendix, we present a wide variety of infusions in depth, and as you’ll see, we use a number of them in this chapter to explore the Old-Fashioned.

Finally, an Old-Fashioned need not use a strong spirit as its core; a fortified wine or amaro can also fulfill this role, though either substitution would require adjustments to the basic template. For example, using sweet vermouth in place of bourbon means you need to use less sweetener and more bitters to yield a balanced drink. Or if you use an amaro, you’ll probably need to use smaller quantities of both bitters and sugar—or perhaps eliminate one entirely.

Golden Boy

ALEX DAY AND DEVON TARBY, 2013

Alex has long been captivated by the combination of scotch and raisins, an obsession born from late-night snacks accompanied by big glasses of whiskey. Indeed, the concentrated fruitiness of raisins pairs perfectly with the lusciousness of a blended scotch like Famous Grouse. In addition to flavor, the madeira and Bénédictine bring a balanced amount of sweetness to the cocktail, making any extra sweetener unnecessary.

1½ ounces Raisin-Infused Scotch (this page)

½ ounce Barbeito 5-year rainwater madeira

¼ ounce Busnel Pays d’Auge VSOP Calvados

¼ ounce Bénédictine

2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then place it into the drink.

Vermouth Cocktail

CLASSIC

In the early days of cocktails, vermouth was becoming popular in America and found its way into the Old-Fashioned template, resulting in this nuanced, low-ABV sipper. This classic recipe also demonstrates that not all Old-Fashioned-style drinks are served over ice in rocks glasses.

2 ounces Carpano Antica Formula vermouth

½ teaspoon simple syrup (this page)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 dash orange bitters

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into a chilled coupe. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then set it on the edge of the glass.

Exit Strategy

NATASHA DAVID, 2014

Amaro shows off its versatility when used as the core of an Old-Fashioned; it also provides seasoning and sweetness, so neither bitters nor sugar syrup is needed. In this recipe, the brandy primarily provides a focused boozy flavor and dries the drink out, and a generous amount of salt solution rounds off the bitter edges.

1½ ounces Amaro Nonino

¾ ounce Germain-Robin Craft-Method brandy

¼ ounce Amaro Meletti

6 drops Salt Solution (this page)

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the orange twist over the drink, then gently rub it around the rim of the glass and place it into the drink.

Ti’ Punch

CLASSIC

It’s said that in Martinique, where the drink originated, Ti’ Punches are served up and consumed in one gulp. Our version is served over ice and meant to be sipped. If you were to change the proportions of the ingredients and shake the drink, you’d have yourself a Daiquiri, but the Ti’ Punch is an Old-Fashioned, through and through, with the lime peel standing in for the bitters to season the drink. Make sure you include a bit of the lime flesh, as it will brighten the drink nicely.

1½-inch-thick disk of lime peel with some flesh attached

1 teaspoon Cane Sugar Syrup (this page)

2 ounces La Favorite Couer de Canne rhum agricole blanc

In an Old-Fashioned glass, muddle the lime and syrup. Add the rum, fill the glass with cracked ice, and stir briefly. No garnish.

THE BALANCE: SUGAR

Balance in an Old-Fashioned is achieved by bridging the core flavor (whiskey) with the seasoning (bitters), which is exactly what the sugar is there for: it curbs the high-octane nature of the base spirit and brings out the spice of the bitters. Some folks like a sweeter Old-Fashioned, others drier. We’re in the drier camp, preferring an Old-Fashioned with only just enough sugar to slightly round the rough edges of the booze.

You may think you don’t like “sweet” cocktails, but just try to make a balanced drink without sugar. Providing sweetness is just one of several functions sugar serves in a cocktail; in the right amount, it amplifies other flavors and adds body and richness, much like fat does in cooking. Of course, too much sugar dumbs down other flavors to the point of making them unrecognizable, overshadowing the core spirit and making the cocktail taste boring.

Most of the time, the sweetener takes the form of a sugar-based syrup. Many cocktails call for simple syrup, a mixture of equal parts water and sugar. Before syrups came into wide use, sugar, by the cube or the spoonful, was used. But as alluded to earlier, this is an inconsistent and time-consuming process: sugar granules take time to dissolve, and anything that slows the drink-making process is devastating in a busy bar. Plus, a spoonful of sugar granules is harder to measure precisely than a syrup is. Suffice it to say that beyond nostalgia, we believe there’s very little reason to make an Old-Fashioned with undissolved sugar.

EXPERIMENTING WITH THE BALANCE

In the Old-Fashioned, there are two main considerations in regard to sweeteners: the type of sweetener and how it’s manipulated. While it makes sense that the neutral flavor of simple syrup can help keep the focus on the base spirit—especially in an Old-Fashioned—in practice, simple syrup thins out the cocktail too much, at least for our liking. To keep whiskey as the star of the Old-Fashioned, we use a syrup made from two parts demerara sugar to one part water, which deepens the richness already found in the spirit. Demerara sugar is an unrefined version of cane sugar that retains much of the molasses character that otherwise gets stripped away in the refining process. To add even more body to an Old-Fashioned without the cloying baggage that comes with added sugar, we use gum arabic to thicken our Demerara Gum Syrup (this page). This powder, made from the hardened sap of the acacia tree, has been used in cocktails almost as long as they’ve existed. The result is a syrup that can bring a surprising amount of body to the drink, even when added in very small quantities. The difference in texture is difficult to describe, but it’s clearly perceptible. The gum arabic amplifies the roundness of the cocktail in a way that comes across as an added layer of complexity; it’s more of a sensory enhancement than noticeable change in flavor.

Sugar isn’t the only way to balance an Old-Fashioned–style drink. Sometimes an implication of sweetness can be just as valuable as actual sweetness. Aged spirits (think añejo tequila, aged scotch, or older rums) often seem sweeter than young spirits because the aging process adds compounds—specifically, vanillin and spice from the oak barrels—that seem sweet. Using such spirits will definitely influence the balance of an Old-Fashioned. For example, a heavily aged whiskey will probably taste sweeter, and may also have lots of woody spices and therefore provide more seasoning. In that case, you may want to back off on the sweetener a bit, using perhaps ½ teaspoon of syrup as a starting point, and use a light hand with the bitters.

Fancy-Free

CLASSIC

This vintage cocktail is an early example of bartenders swapping out sugar for a sweet, flavorful liqueur. Maraschino liqueur isn’t as sweet as simple syrup (not to mention that it also has proof), so we up the quantity to ½ ounce.

2 ounces Rittenhouse rye

½ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 dash House Orange Bitters (this page)

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Monte Carlo

CLASSIC

In the classic Monte Carlo, Bénédictine, a sweet liqueur with herbal and honey flavors, stands in for the sugar.

2 ounces Rittenhouse rye

½ ounce Bénédictine

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the lemon twist over the glass and place it into the drink.

Chrysanthemum

CLASSIC

A low-proof Old-Fashioned that doesn’t contain a base spirit, sugar-based sweetener, or traditional bitters—and that gets served up in a coupe? Say it ain’t so. Though the Chrysanthemum looks like it hails from the Manhattan or Martini family, the proportion of ingredients give away its lineage, with small amounts of Bénédictine and absinthe dutifully sweetening and seasoning the herbaceous vermouth core.

2½ ounces Dolin dry vermouth

½ ounce Bénédictine

1 teaspoon Pernod absinthe

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into a chilled coupe. Express the orange twist over the drink, then gently rub it around the rim of the glass and place it into the drink.

Stinger

CLASSIC

Reimagining the core and balance of the Old-Fashioned can yield some interesting effects. The Stinger, a pre-Prohibition drink of untraceable origin, classically consisted of just brandy and crème de menthe, the latter providing both seasoning and sweetening. For our version of this classic, we include a bit of simple syrup to boost the flavor of the crème de menthe and curtail the brandy’s strength. Though it’s traditionally served up, we like to dress up our Stinger like a Julep and serve it with two straws for two-person consumption, à la Lady and the Tramp.

2 ounces Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac

½ ounce white crème de menthe

1 teaspoon simple syrup (this page)

Garnish: 1 mint sprig

Shake all the ingredients with ice for about 5 seconds, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the mint sprig and serve with a straw.

THE SEASONING: BITTERS

Before modern pharmaceuticals, there were bitters. Up through the Industrial Revolution, bitters were advertised as a cure-all: Can’t sleep? Bitters. Want more pep in the bedroom? Bitters! Truth be told, this wasn’t pure fiction, as many of the ingredients in bitters do have curative powers.

Bitters are highly concentrated macerations of barks, roots, herbs, and dried citrus—these days along with nearly anything you can think of—in high-proof alcohol. They’re intentionally made to be unpalatable in higher doses, and they’re used in tiny amounts in cocktails—just drops and dashes. Think of them as akin to cooking spices: a tiny amount can go a long way in adding flavor and complexity to drinks.

As recently as ten years ago, there weren’t many options when it came to bitters. Typically, you could always find the iconic Angostura, Peychaud’s when you were lucky, and perhaps a couple of brands of orange bitters (thank you, Gary Regan, for bringing a great orange bitters to market just when we needed it). The first wave of the bitters revival, in the early 2000s, was fostered by brands like Bitter Truth in Germany and Bittermens in New York. Their bitters were often homages to vintage recipes and, in some instances, wild new creations. But the real bitters explosion happened a few years later, and now there are hundreds of producers making bitters inspired by every imaginable flavor. Our friend Louis Anderman at Miracle Mile Bitters will, we swear, figure out a way to make bitters using this physical book.

Bitters are one of the most alluring cocktail ingredients. With a single dash from a mysterious bottle, they can change the flavor and entire experience of a cocktail, bind ingredients together, or introduce aroma on top of a drink. The amount of bitters added to an Old-Fashioned is a subtle balancing act, like seasoning soup with salt. The moment the bitters distract from the base spirit is when you’ve gone too far.

BITTERS TYPES: AROMATIC, CITRUS, AND SAVORY

Angostura is the world’s most widely available brand and their traditional offering represents the most common bitters category: aromatic bitters. You might be thinking, Aren’t all bitters aromatic? But in this context, bitters designated “aromatic” (as opposed to citrus or savory, for example) have a dense and sweet base, a bitter backbone, and a spice component. Gentian root (for bitterness) and warming spices like clove and cinnamon tend to dominate.

Produced in Trinidad using a highly guarded recipe, Angostura bitters is an indispensable tool in any cocktail kit—an ingredient that, on its own, tastes like a rum-fueled Christmas party. There are certainly other similar bitters, but Angostura is the king.

Citrus bitters have become almost as invaluable in our cocktails. Along with grapefruit, blood orange, Meyer lemon, and yuzu bitters, to name a few, orange bitters brighten a drink’s overall flavor profile. While aromatic bitters are good friends with aged spirits, especially in Old-Fashioneds and Manhattan-style drinks, orange bitters are great with unaged spirits—gin and tequila in particular, especially when paired with a fortified wine. Orange bitters are also an easy companion for other bitters. Many people prefer an Old-Fashioned made with both Angostura and orange bitters.

Savory bitters, on the other hand, add a layer of complexity via pepper or vegetal flavors. Currently, one of the most popular savory bitters is Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters, which has rich chocolate flavor and a hint of chile heat. Other favorites include celery bitters (surprisingly great with bourbon), cardamom bitters, and lavender bitters.

HOW BITTERS FUNCTION IN COCKTAILS

As the variety of bitters available increases, we’ve started to lump them into two categories based on how they function in cocktails. They can add a distinctive flavor, or they can amplify other flavors, drawing out and heightening the dominant flavors in the drink. To draw a culinary analogy, flavoring bitters are the pepper, while amplifying bitters are the salt. Sometimes bitters can do both.

For example, in our root Old-Fashioned recipe, we include a dash of Bitter Truth aromatic bitters in addition to the Angostura bitters. The Angostura acts as the flavoring bitters, binding the whiskey and sugar together, while the dash of Bitter Truth adds clove and cinnamon notes, which amplify the spice flavors within the Elijah Craig bourbon. If you were to use those same Bitter Truth aromatic bitters in a cocktail that includes a heavily spiced ingredient—cinnamon syrup, for example—it would amplify the spice even more.

Flavoring Bitters: Examples include Angostura aromatic bitters, Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Boker bitters, Fee Brothers whiskey barrel–aged bitters, Bitter Truth aromatic bitters, yuzu bitters, eucalyptus bitters, toasted pecan bitters, and celery bitters.

Amplifying Bitters: Examples include Fee Brothers West Indian orange bitters, Regan’s orange bitters, and Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters.

EVALUATING BITTERS

Here’s a method you can use to taste unfamiliar styles of bitters: Fill two glasses with cold seltzer (not mineral water, which has more flavor). Use one to refresh your palate (continuing to do so while tasting), and add a few dashes of bitters to the other glass and stir briefly. The seltzer will stretch out the bitters’ concentrated flavor profile, and its bubbles will lift its volatile aromas to your nose. If you can’t smell or taste much in the glass, add more bitters until you can.

After taking a few sips of the bittered seltzer, place a drop of bitters on the back of your hand and lick it off. The flavors that were previously diluted will now be intense and pungent. This tasting of the bitters straight from the bottle is important for analyzing the sweetness of the bitters, which can vary widely from product to product, in part depending on whether caramelized sugar is used to add color. Many brands also contain some glycerin, which has a somewhat sweet flavor; with these, adding too much to a cocktail can make the drink taste oddly cloying without being noticeably sweet.

If you still feel unclear about the qualities of the bitters, put a drop of bitters on the palm of one hand, rub your hands together, and then cup your hands around your nose and mouth. This activates the intense aromas in the bitters.

EXPERIMENTING WITH THE SEASONING

The Old-Fashioned is an excellent template for exploring bitters, since they are such an integral part of the template. Swap in different styles of bitters and see what happens: Does a given bitters provide greater flavor dynamics (flavoring bitters), or does it allow you to taste other ingredients in the drink in a new light (amplifying bitters)? If neither of these things occurs, try another type—or rethink how you’re using the bitters. It may be that the type of bitters you’re using is too weak and another one would come through more assertively.

You don’t need to add bitters to every cocktail, and more bitters won’t necessarily make a better cocktail. Esoteric combinations of bitters won’t be interesting if they lack context or if they don’t provide thoughtful seasoning. Yuzu bitters might sound great on paper and be delicious in a different context, but add them to a bourbon-based Old-Fashioned and you’re in questionable territory, as the astringency of yuzu may clash with the tangy bite of bourbon.

Normandie Club Old-Fashioned

ALEX DAY AND DEVON TARBY, 2015

In this Old-Fashioned, one of our most popular cocktails at the Normandie Club, we’ve manipulated both the core and the balance, using an infused bourbon and a spiced syrup. This cocktail showed us that coconut can shine in spirituous concoctions beyond the usual tiki drinks if it’s incorporated into an infusion; just as with nuts, it adds rich body and toasty flavors.

2 ounces Coconut-Infused Bourbon (this page)

1 teaspoon Clear Creek 8-year apple brandy

1 teaspoon Spiced Almond Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

1 dash Angostura bitters

Garnish: 1 dried apple slice on a skewer

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Garnish with the dried apple slice.

Improved Whiskey Cocktail

CLASSIC

In the Fancy-Free (this page), the addition of just one dash of orange bitters draws out flavors in the spirits, but the Angostura bitters still serve as the main seasoning agent. By contrast, the Improved Whiskey Cocktail, which was probably one of the first popular Old-Fashioned variations, turns to absinthe for seasoning, which adds a deep complexity to the cocktail. The sweet red-licorice and anise flavors from the Peychaud’s bitters dial up the seasoning even more, while also increasing the impression of sweetness.

2 ounces Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon

1 teaspoon Maraska maraschino liqueur

1 dash absinthe

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then place it into the drink.

Pop Quiz

DEVON TARBY, 2010

Substituting a sweet liqueur or amaro for the sugar in an Old-Fashioned–style cocktail is an amazing way to balance a drink while incorporating a unique seasoning. This approach led to the iconic Elder Fashion in our first book and has been a source of inspiration ever since. In the Pop Quiz, Devon includes an orange-flavored amaro, Ramazzotti, and swaps in spicy, chocolaty bitters.

2 ounces Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon

½ ounce Ramazzotti

1 teaspoon simple syrup (this page)

2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Night Owl

ALEX DAY, 2013

This riff on the Pop Quiz (see this page) is an example of a Mr. Potato Head variation—making a new drink by swapping out one or more elements. Here, Alex wanted to make a drink that tasted like boozy chocolate without coming across as dessert in a glass. The seasoning comes from not only the bitters but also the amaro.

2 ounces Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon

½ ounce Cacao Nib–Infused Ramazzotti (this page)

½ teaspoon Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

3 dashes Miracle Mile toasted pecan bitters

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then place it into the drink.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

DAVE FERNIE

Dave Fernie is a bartender and bar operator from Los Angeles who has worked at Honeycut, The Walker Inn, and The Normandie Club. Previously, Dave worked with Houston Hospitality and Sprout LA, both in Los Angeles, and at the River Café in New York City.

My first Old-Fashioned experience didn’t sell me on the drink. I was at a holiday party at a sports bar, and some guy handed me a drink and said, “Try this Old-Fashioned. It’s awesome!” It had a bright red cancer cherry and smashed-up orange in it. I took a sip and it was…so sweet…so gross. I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about and decided to stick to beer. It wasn’t too long until I revisited the drink at the Campbell Apartment in New York City and had a much better experience. That Old-Fashioned set me on the path.

I eventually learned how to make one when I was bartending at the River Café in Brooklyn. I didn’t know much about cocktails yet, and I had an epic fear of failure. (It wasn’t unfounded. One time someone came in and ordered a Rob Roy. I made him a Roy Rogers, which is Coke and grenadine, a nonalcoholic drink.) So I spent my free time watching bartenders at the cool bars around town—Little Branch, Pegu Club, Milk & Honey—and reading old cocktail books. I think I made my first proper Old-Fashioned from a recipe in The Savoy Cocktail Book.

The thing I love most about the Old-Fashioned is how the drink can open your eyes to cool new cocktail ideas. I remember drinking a rum Old-Fashioned at the Richardson in Brooklyn. I wasn’t a big fan of rum at that point and had no idea what rhum agricole was, but this drink at the Richardson was made with Rhum JM VSOP and sweetened with honey. I remember thinking, This simple thing is fucking ridiculous. That started my obsession with rum and led me to trying and making other rum-based variations on the Old-Fashioned.

If you don’t love an Old-Fashioned, it’s pretty tough to be a bartender. You basically have to put some kind of Old-Fashioned-style drink on every cocktail menu. In many ways the drink is a great utility player at a bar: you can approach it from so many different directions, and its formula makes it easy to plug and play. For this reason it’s often the last drink we add to a menu, because if we’re missing a mezcal cocktail or one made with a peaty scotch, the Old-Fashioned template can easily showcase either of those spirits.

As for me, I don’t like using top-shelf booze in my Old-Fashioneds. I understand the impetus for putting Pappy Van Winkle or Willett in an Old-Fashioned, but I think that misses the point of the drink. The original Old-Fashioned was a way to make shitty booze taste better, and we should honor that. After all, you don’t put Château Margaux in a Kalimotxo, you know? Beyond that, paying attention to the little nuances, like what sweetener you’re using, and whether you express the orange twist and discard it or drop it into the drink, is what elevates the Old-Fashioned from a pedestrian cocktail to something elegant and memorable.

Dave Fernie’s Old-Fashioned

2 ounces Evan Williams “Black Label” bourbon

1 teaspoon Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist and 1 lemon twist

EXPLORING TECHNIQUE: UNDERDILUTED STIRRING

Many traditional recipes for Old-Fashioneds call for the drink to be built in the glass in which it will be served. The sugar goes in first (in granules or cube form) and is stirred or muddled with the bitters and a splash of water. Then the whiskey is added, followed by a large ice cube, and the drink is stirred until it’s properly diluted.

Because the Old-Fashioned is served on ice, it continues to become more diluted while in the glass. The term underdiluted is relative to the full dilution we would seek in, say, a Martini (the topic of chapter 2), where the cocktail is served up after being stirred with ice until the ingredients have fully integrated, the cocktail is bracingly cold, and enough dilution has occurred to temper the intensity of the alcohol. For the Old-Fashioned, we have to pull our punch a bit, stopping short of full dilution and aiming for a point where the booze is still sharp and slightly abrasive.

With time and attention to detail, the traditional technique can yield a fantastic cocktail. But over years of training bartenders, we’ve found that in a bustling bar, there’s never enough time or attention to ensure that the sugar is completely dissolved and the drink is adequately diluted. It takes about 3 minutes to properly make an Old-Fashioned using this method, which is about 2 minutes more than a busy bartender can spare. So sometimes the result is an underdiluted drink with a sludge of sugar at the bottom of the glass.

For these reasons, we usually build our Old-Fashioneds in a mixing glass, stirring the drink with 1-inch ice cubes until it’s just shy of full dilution—that is, when the liquid is cold and the ingredients are well integrated, but the whiskey’s alcoholic bite is still noticeable—then straining it into an Old-Fashioned glass over a single large cube of ice (though a few 1-inch cubes would also work). Stirring over the 1-inch ice cubes quickly cools and dilutes the drink, and then pouring it over a large cube of ice allows for slower dilution in the glass, extending the amount of time the drink will be in proper balance after it’s been served.

The extra step of building the drink in a mixing glass not only saves time and makes it easier to mix consistent drinks, but also helps us adjust for different ingredients: higher-proof spirits (100% ABV and above) may need just a little more dilution than 80-proof liquors. Beyond Old-Fashioneds, we use this method for all stirred drinks that will be served on ice.

All of that said, building an Old-Fashioned in the glass is possible. You need an ice cube that’s large enough to fill the glass and that won’t shrink so much after stirring that it bobs in the liquid. This is a cardinal sin in Old-Fashioned making: if the ice floats, the drink will dilute rapidly. If building the drink in the glass is your preferred method, select a block of ice that seems slightly too large to fit in the glass. Add the ingredients to the glass and place the ice on top; it might not fully drop into the liquid right away, but while you carefully stir, it will begin to settle into the drink. Continue to stir, tasting the drink frequently until the abrasiveness of the core spirit tapers off, making sure to stop before the drink tastes watered down. It will take about 2 minutes, depending on the size of the ice and how fast you stir.

GLASSWARE: THE OLD-FASHIONED GLASS

Like the Martini and Highball, the Old-Fashioned is one of those cocktails lucky enough to have its own eponymous glassware. Also called a rocks glass, our ideal Old-Fashioned glass holds between 12 and 14 ounces of liquid, making it large enough to fit 2 to 3 ounces of cocktail and a large block of ice, with the ice resting below the rim of the glass without bobbing around in the drink. (A loose ice cube will melt and dilute the drink more quickly, and is also more likely to splash the drink in your face when you sip it.) This size of glass also accommodates drinks served over crushed ice, such as cobblers, and in a pinch can house a Julep.

The glass should have a thick, weighted base. We prefer the sides of the glass to be as thin as possible, though we usually have to compromise on thicker, sturdier glasses to withstand the rigors of bar service. The overall shape should ideally taper slightly toward the base, as this makes the drink easier to hold (and smell). There are some exceptions: for serving Sazeracs (this page) and their variations, we usually use a smaller glass with straight sides, as this helps concentrate the aroma of absinthe (or other spirit) used to rinse the glass.

Old-Fashioned glasses don’t come in as many styles as coupes or Martini glasses, but there are a few options that we love and buy repeatedly. As is typically the case with barware (or anything, really), the Japanese make some of the best glassware we can find; our favorite producer is Hard Strong, which makes beautiful glassware that’s both delicate and sturdy. The Germans make some great glassware as well, especially Schott Zwiesel, particularly within the Charles Schumann line (see Resources, this page). One can never be disappointed with Riedel, either, which has a slew of options. It all depends on your personal style.

OLD-FASHIONED VARIATIONS

Up to this point, we’ve outlined three different tactics for understanding and creating variations on the Old-Fashioned. But in actual practice, we often combine several of these tactics. The cocktails in this section were developed by playing with multiple elements of a cocktail—the core, the balance, and the seasoning.

Snowbird

DEVON TARBY, 2014

The split-base strategy that makes the Ned Ryerson (this page) successful can be used to generate a wide variety of drinks. We particularly love pulling back on the base and adding another spirit, like apple brandy, to accent the primary spirit. Together, rye and apple brandy are a magical, crowd-pleasing combination, and St-Germain makes everything it touches taste better. A dash of celery bitters adds just enough savoriness to pull the drink back from excessive sweetness.

1½ ounces Rittenhouse rye

½ ounce Clear Creek 2-year apple brandy

½ ounce Cardamom-Infused St-Germain (this page)

½ teaspoon Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

4 drops Miracle Mile celery bitters

Garnish: 1 grapefruit twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the grapefruit twist over the drink and place it into the glass.

Cold Girl Fever

DEVON TARBY, 2016

When coming up with new cocktail recipes, we often riff on an existing variation from our repertoire. This drink is based on the Golden Boy (this page), and while it doesn’t share any ingredients with that cocktail, it does take inspiration from its flavors: From the same starting point of raisins and whiskey, Devon took this cocktail to a smokier place by adding a touch of peaty Islay scotch to the core and balancing it out with raisin-infused honey syrup.

1¾ ounces Famous Grouse scotch

¼ ounce Laphroaig 10-year scotch

1 teaspoon Raisin Honey Syrup (this page)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist and 1 lemon twist

Ned Ryerson

DEVON TARBY, 2012

In the Ned Ryerson, the core includes a small portion of young apple brandy, which adds a juicy flavor to the cocktail, and the Miracle Mile Castilian bitters in the seasoning are full of orange, licorice, and sarsaparilla notes. The result is an Old-Fashioned that’s been reimagined with just modest changes.

1½ ounces Bulleit rye

½ ounce Clear Creek 2-year apple brandy

1 teaspoon Demerara Gum Syrup (this page)

2 dashes Miracle Mile Castilian bitters

1 dash House Orange Bitters (this page)

Garnish: 1 lemon twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Express the lemon twist over the drink, then place it into the drink.

Deadpan

ALEX DAY AND DEVON TARBY, 2014

This is as rich and decadent as an Old-Fashioned gets, but there’s not a drop of sugar syrup in it. Instead, the drink derives its sweetness from both a raisiny sherry and a vanilla liqueur, which provide a counterpunch to the nutty split base of Cognac and rum infused with sesame seeds. A dash of bitters is all that’s required to zip these big flavors together.

1 ounce Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

1 ounce Sesame-Infused Rum (this page)

¼ ounce Lustau East India solera sherry

¼ ounce Giffard Vanille de Madagascar

1 dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Autumn Old-Fashioned

DEVON TARBY, 2013

The Conference, a groundbreaking Old-Fashioned variation developed by former Death & Co head bartender Brian Miller, has a core that’s divided between four different brown spirits. The Autumn Old-Fashioned is a richer, deeper expression of that drink. We usually like to use maple syrup as a sweetener when we combine this many big flavors; it has a brightness that keeps the spirits from becoming too heavy.

½ ounce George Dickel rye

½ ounce Laird’s 100-proof straight apple brandy

½ ounce Tariquet VSOP Bas-Armagnac

½ ounce Bank Note scotch

1 teaspoon dark, robust maple syrup

2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters

1 dash Angostura bitters

Garnish: 1 orange twist and 1 lemon twist

Bad Santa

DEVON TARBY, 2015

This crystal clear drink tastes like minty dark chocolate, earning its place among what we like to call “mindfuck drinks.” Vodka is a nontraditional base spirit for an Old-Fashioned-style drink for sure, but infusing it with cocoa butter and adding a splash of chocolate liqueur gives it the richness and complexity of an aged spirit. With a drink this rich and sweet, a bit of savory seasoning, in this case Salt Solution, is needed to brighten the flavors.

2 ounces Cocoa Butter–Infused Absolut Elyx Vodka (this page)

¼ ounce Giffard white crème de cacao

¼ ounce Giffard Vanille de Madagascar

1 teaspoon Giffard Menthe-Pastille

1 drop Salt Solution (this page)

Garnish: 1 small candy cane

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Garnish with the candy cane.

Beach Bonfire

ALEX DAY, 2015

Developed for the inaugural Pacific Coast Highway–themed menu at the Walker Inn, the Beach Bonfire is designed to evoke the experience of sitting around a fire and taking alternating sips from a flask of whiskey and a cold beer. We start with our benchmark bourbon and add some cachaça for its chocolate and cinnamon notes, then sweeten the drink with pineapple syrup, which adds a nod to summer without making the drink taste tropical. At the bar, we’d hit the finished drink with a blast of hickory smoke before serving it next to a small glass of pilsner; at home you can skip the smoke and the beer if you like.

1½ ounces Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon

½ ounce Avuá Amburana cachaça

1 teaspoon Pineapple Gum Syrup (this page)

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 dash Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters

Garnish: 1 dehydrated pineapple slice and a glass of pilsner

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into an Old-Fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Using a PolyScience Smoking Gun or something similar, shoot some hickory smoke over the drink to create just a whisper of smoke aroma (see this page for instructions). Garnish with the dehydrated pineapple and serve with the glass of beer alongside.