100 Best Old Fashioned Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is an Old Fashioned better with simple syrup or sugar cube? ›

Use Rich Simple Syrup

The sugar cube is one Old Fashioned tradition that can definitely be skipped. While many recipes call for it, it offers no advantage over using a rich simple syrup and has several disadvantages. Most obviously, you have to find and buy sugar cubes and a muddler.

“The Old-Fashioned was an evolution of the Whiskey co*cktail which was simply whiskey, sugar, bitters, and water, and was served as early as 1800 or so.” It wasn't until the 1870s and 1880s that when bartenders “began adding embellishments to their Whiskey co*cktails, some customers rebelled against the innovations,” as ...

What is the best bourbon for making an Old Fashioned? If you're looking to make a delicious Old Fashioned co*cktail, some top choices for bourbon are the Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series, Jefferson's Tropics Aged in Humidity, and Larceny Straight Bourbon.

With bitters, a little bit goes a long way. Two or three drops will add much depth to your Old Fashioned.

The classic recipe, according to most mixologists, calls for Brown Demerara sugar cubes. Sugar cubes are previously measured, allowing for consistent whiskey to bitters ratios. The Angostura aromatic bitters have a rich scent of fruits and spices and are a necessary component of any classic Old Fashioned co*cktail.

Properly made, it's strong but not too strong, sweet but not too sweet, and, most importantly, it's dead-simple and absolutely delicious. The best bitters for an Old Fashioned are up for debate, but Angostura is classic for a reason, while Fee Brothers offer a welcome alternative.

If you prefer classic co*cktails like the martini or old-fashioned, you are a refined individual with a taste for timeless elegance. You appreciate the finer things in life and enjoy a traditional approach to co*cktails. You're sophisticated and elegant, and you value quality over quantity.

There are few drinks manlier than an Old Fashioned. But the simple syrup in this staple (as well as co*cktails like a Whiskey Sour) isn't so simple, nutritionally speaking. “Just 1-ounce packs in over 5 teaspoons of added sugar,” Holthaus says. “And a 6-ounce Old Fashioned will cost you around 260 calories.”

The Old Fashioned is arguably the most well-known whiskey co*cktail in the world. Essentially just a slug of bourbon that's been lightly sweetened with sugar and modified with a couple dashes of bitters, it's dead simple to make, but within this basic template is a world of opinions and flavor.

Is Crown Royal good for an Old Fashioned? ›

I focused my tasting on American whiskeys, stressing a balance between familiar bottles and less-famous ones that are well worth space on your shelf, though there are any number of fantastic rye-forward Canadian whiskeys that make great Old Fashioned co*cktails, such as Crown Royal and Alberta Premium.

Straightforward and timeless, this Maker's Mark old-fashioned co*cktail never goes out of style. A simple combination of bourbon, bitters, sugar, and a splash of water — just garnish your masterpiece with an orange slice and a cherry on top and you've got the perfect drink.

In an old fashioned, Knob Creek's bold and spicy notes shine through, while its sweetness and vanilla undertones provide a beautiful balance to the bitterness of the bitters.

Place sugar cube or simple syrup in an Old Fashioned glass. I prefer simple sugar over a sugar cube to ensure that all the sugar is dissolved. Add two splashes of bitters and, if using a sugar cube, 1 teaspoon of water to dissolve the sugar.

So, if you're not a fan of sticky syrups, go ahead and crush those sugar cubes. You can sweeten your co*cktails in a few ways, but you'll still have to take an extra step to make sure your sugar dissolves. It's up to you to decide whether that step requires making syrup or breaking out the muddler.

Simple syrup is used to allow sugar to be evenly mixed throughout a drink, particularly one served cold, by pre-dissolving the granulated sugar in water ahead of time to avoid clumping. It's also one of the easiest ingredients to make yourself—if you can boil water, you can make simple syrup.

1. Sugar: The Old Fashioned is traditionally made with either granulated white sugar or a sugar cube. Superfine bar sugar is fast-dissolving and eliminates the potential for a crunchy co*cktail, as does simple syrup. ⇒ If you're avoiding white sugar, try another sweetener.