The Real Old Fashioned

Having begun this blog with an example of how not to make an Old Fashioned, it's only right that I furnish you with an example of how this most majestic of drinks should be made.

Personally, I find the great Chris McMillan's version difficult to beat. Here's my take on it:

2 measures good quality, characterful bourbon/rye whiskey
1 sugar cube/teaspoon of sugar (or more if you prefer)
Angostura bitters
Orange peel

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of an Old Fashioned glass (a lowball glass or any flat-bottomed glass that isn't too tall or thin), saturate with Angostura bitters, add a splash of water (as small an amount as you can manage) and muddle into a syrup. Cut a wide, short strip of orange peel and muddle in the bottom of the glass to release the oil from the peel. Add ice (amount will vary wildly depending on your preference), then finally the whiskey. Personally, I think the drink benefits from being gently stirred at this point to mix the syrup with the spirit, as the amount used will in no way overpower the whiskey but just render it that little bit more accessible than it would be straight...however, this is down to personal preference.

The goal of the ice is to keep the drink cold without causing excessive dilution. Too much stirring while in the glass will inevitably cause this, so it's best avoided. Counter-intuitively, while adding more ice increases the amount of potential dilution, by keeping the drink colder it actually melts slower. One ice cube will disappear faster than three, so keep this in mind. Unless you want a bit of dilution, the ideal cooling solution for a drink served in this way is a Japanese ice ball.

As with any whiskey-based drink, you'll find purists calling for some variation on 'just give me the whiskey', e.g. less ice, less sugar, less everything, but I feel that's missing the point of cocktails altogether...to create something that's more than the sum of its parts, where through the addition (in this case) of a little sugar, bitters, orange peel and ice, the whiskey of choice takes on an entirely new aspect, allowing the drinker to appreciate it from a new perspective. There's nothing wrong with drinking spirits straight, though some are better suited to this purpose than others, but we're talking cocktails here...and a cocktail, by definition, cannot be straight spirit, whatever drinkers of the Desert Martini might think.

Speaking of definitions, the Old Fashioned is so named because it conforms to the original definition of the word 'cocktail' (first recorded in this famous letter printed in the 13th of May 1806 edition of The Balance and Columbian Repository):

'Cock tail, then is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters it is vulgarly called a bittered sling, and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said also, to be of great use to a democratic candidate: because, a person having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow any thing else.'

This is a great drink for appreciating your chosen spirit, whatever that may be...accentuating certain aspects without overwhelming its essential character. If your spirit is one-dimensional or less than exceptional you may find it benefits from a bit of additional sweetening.