The Old Fashioned Cocktail: The Topic

[Chris Amirault]

Jeepers: no OFs since July? Gotta rectify that.

2 1/2 oz Inner Circle red

1/2 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Cruzan blackstrap

2 dashes Regan's orange bitters

2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

I am in love with these Xocolatl Mole bitters....

[thirtyoneknots]

There's a small distiller based in Waco of all places (otherwise famous for David Koresh and a Baptist university) that makes only two products, one of which is a minimally aged corn whiskey made from heirloom Hopi blue corn. I've taken to calling an Old Fashioned made with it and the JT Decanter Bitters an "Old Fashioned Old Fashioned". Quite an interesting drink.

[KatieLoeb]

I'm working on an iteration of a rum old fashioned for our fall menu:

1.5 oz. Scarlet Ibis rum

1.0 oz. Smith & Cross Rum

4 drops Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters

1 barspoon spiced simple syrup

Stir vigorously and strain into an Old Fashioned/Rocks glass.

Garnish with a flamed orange peel, rubbed on the rim, dunked in the drink and discarded after flaming.

This is a twist on a drink Nick Jarrett made for me over at Franklin Mortgage & Investment several weeks ago. I added the little bit of spiced simple just to get the autumn flavors into the glass and tone down the "rumminess" a hair. It's pretty tasty. I'll try and take a picture of one when perfected. Working on a name for it, but something simple like a Carribean Old Fashioned or something will likely end up as the moniker for this one. Unless someone has a better suggestion...

[mssurgeon81]

I was home working tonight...and feeling sorry for myself...and then I saw this topic and realized that an old-fashioned was the perfect nightcap for my current mood.

2oz Rittenhouse 100 rye

barspoon rich demerara simple (I was out of sugar cubes)

Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters

Orange twist

This is such a deceptively simple but awesome drink...

(and Katie, I'm totally coming by Oyster House for your version next week!)

Edited September 25, 2010 by mssurgeon81 (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Sarah:

I'll make it for you (hell - I'll BUY it for you) if you reveal where you found the Rittenhouse bonded...

Edited September 25, 2010 by KatieLoeb (log)

[KD1191]

Been playing around with a Death & Co twist on a Scotch old fashioned called the Bay City Roller...

2 oz Balvenie Doublewood (12 year)

+1/4 oz Averna

Barspoon Simple

Orange Peel

They use Asyla, so I imagine I could probably get away with cutting the single-malt with a bit of Famous Grouse or something. The Balvenie 12 makes my favorite Rob Roy, so I thought I'd give it a whirl in this. I think it works, especially if I remember Joaquin's tip not to over stir...this one doesn't have a big sweet spot, it goes from very tasty to flat quickly.

Edited September 25, 2010 by KD1191 (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

I'm working on an iteration of a rum old fashioned for our fall menu:

1.5 oz. Scarlet Ibis rum

1.0 oz. Smith & Cross Rum

4 drops Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters

1 barspoon spiced simple syrup

Stir vigorously and strain into an Old Fashioned/Rocks glass.

Garnish with a flamed orange peel, rubbed on the rim, dunked in the drink and discarded after flaming.

This is a twist on a drink Nick Jarrett made for me over at Franklin Mortgage & Investment several weeks ago. I added the little bit of spiced simple just to get the autumn flavors into the glass and tone down the "rumminess" a hair. It's pretty tasty. I'll try and take a picture of one when perfected. Working on a name for it, but something simple like a Carribean Old Fashioned or something will likely end up as the moniker for this one. Unless someone has a better suggestion...

Scarlet Ibis...a lot of it, 19th century drink paradigm, sounds like it might end up quite popular...

Scarlet Fever?

Just a thought. Naming drinks is way harder than inventing them.

[haresfur]

I'm working on an iteration of a rum old fashioned for our fall menu:

...

Working on a name for it, but something simple like a Carribean Old Fashioned or something will likely end up as the moniker for this one. Unless someone has a better suggestion...

Well, if you substituted in some brandy, you could call it "Between your Grandma's Sheets"

In days gone by you could name it after a popular character of the day, but now you might get sued if you gave tribute to the Caribbean theme and called it the "Johnny Depp".

I'm not familiar with Scarlett Ibis. What's it like?

[mssurgeon81]

Haha Katie....it was an import from across the Pennsylvania-Delaware border! Definitely not a locally-available product....

[KatieLoeb]

Delaware, eh? Might have to make me a trip over that border in search of. None in NJ - already tried that.

Host Note: A number of posts after this one were moved to a separate topic on the Aviary cocktail videos here

Edited October 1, 2010 by heidih
Add Host note (log)

[Stephen D]

Hi all! This is my first post here, so do be kind...

Those are some awesome variations on the theme.

I'm from Louisville, Ky, and this is the verbal tradition- as given to me by the Maitre d' of the Pendennis. It gets no purer.

In a highball, muddle an orange slice and a cherry with 2 dashes Agnostura and a tsp sugar. Ice to fill. Add 2 ozs bourbon of choice. Empty into Hawthorne shaker. Shake 8-10 times. Strain over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist, if you must.

[Chris Amirault]

No such thing as bad pub, either.

[EvergreenDan]

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme:

2 oz rye

1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh)

1/4 oz Meletti

1 dash Angostura Orange

1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish

I enjoyed it. Also made one with Cognac, which was nice too. The Finger Lakes product is much dryer than, say, Cherry Heering, and much purer (less complex, more fresh-tasting).

Thanks for the inspiration.

[jesteinf]

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme:

2 oz rye

1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh)

1/4 oz Meletti

1 dash Angostura Orange

1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish

I enjoyed it. Also made one with Cognac, which was nice too. The Finger Lakes product is much dryer than, say, Cherry Heering, and much purer (less complex, more fresh-tasting).

Thanks for the inspiration.

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to bash a place that isn't open yet.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Saw this thread, and I'm so impressionable. Tonight's version was fairly basic--

Two dashes of Fee Bros. Bitters (angostura style) over about 1/4 tsp. turbinado sugar, selzer, 1.5 oz Knob Creek, two ice cubes, topped off with selzer, maraschino cherry. I like a slice of Seville sour orange as a garnish with the cherry but didn't have one handy.

[Alcuin]

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to bash a place that isn't open yet.

The videos provoke discussion. Some positive, some negative. That's what they're intended to do and that's what's going on here-people giving their reactions to a video designed to provoke reactions. That they're not all completely positive is the chance you take when you put stuff out there like this.

Last night I was looking for something quick and easy to make. I usually turn to the OF for inspiration when I'm in that mood:

2oz Barbancourt 5 star

2 dashes Ango

1 t Giffard Banane de Bresil

lemon peel garnish

[Splificator]

mixologists always seem to be seen as mad scientists and not rembrandts or wassily kandinskys.

I loved this. I sometimes ask myself the same thing, but in jazz terms: "why are so many people trying to be Art Tatum and not Jell Roll Morton." It's the same basic question: do you go with technique for technique's sake, or for musicality/aesthetics/whatever-it-is-in-mixing-drinks?

Or do you be Charlie Parker and blow the roof off the sucker by doing both. But there are many, many Sonny Stitts for every Charlie Parker.

[Splificator]

And that should be "Jelly," not "Jell." I blame the gin.

[Chris Amirault]

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme:

2 oz rye

1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh)

1/4 oz Meletti

1 dash Angostura Orange

1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish

That's similar to a drink our bar manager, Hannah Kirshner, created that's on our menu as Green Velvet:

2 oz Henry McKenna (or Bulleit)

1 oz Cherry Heering

2 dashes Fee's OF bitters

[db_campbell]

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme:

2 oz rye

1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh)

1/4 oz Meletti

1 dash Angostura Orange

1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish

That's similar to a drink our bar manager, Hannah Kirshner, created that's on our menu as Green Velvet:

2 oz Henry McKenna (or Bulleit)

1 oz Cherry Heering

2 dashes Fee's OF bitters

Had to pay bills tonight, so merged these 2 with;

2 oz Bourbon (house-vatted, don't recall constituents)

0.75 oz Cynar

0.5 oz Heering

2 dashes Peychaud's

1 dash Angostura

Very cool drink; thanks.

[sbumgarner]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Made some vanilla syrup the other day and tried out an Old Fashioned variation that came out reasonably well, if maybe slightly out of balance with the vanilla.

2 oz Bols Genever

.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse

.25 oz vanilla syrup

2 dashes of Peychaud's

orange twist

Probably would lower the vanilla syrup down to a teaspoon, but the butteriness and herbalness of the chartreuse played nicely with the vanilla and Peychaud's, respectively. And ever since I was served a genever Sazerac at Death and Co. I've really enjoyed playing with genever in traditionally rye/bourbon drinks.

[mkayahara]

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme:

2 oz rye

1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh)

1/4 oz Meletti

1 dash Angostura Orange

1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish

That's similar to a drink our bar manager, Hannah Kirshner, created that's on our menu as Green Velvet:

2 oz Henry McKenna (or Bulleit)

1 oz Cherry Heering

2 dashes Fee's OF bitters

I try not to be too much of a purist about drinks, but I'm curious: at what point do these stop being "Old Fashioned Cocktails" and start turning into something else? I'm on board with the whole "plain, fancy, improved" thing, but those seem to involve only dashes of liqueurs. Once we get into a whole ounce of liqueur, doesn't it become another class of drink entirely?

[Chris Amirault]

You're so old fashioned.

[eje]

I try not to be too much of a purist about drinks, but I'm curious: at what point do these stop being "Old Fashioned Cocktails" and start turning into something else? I'm on board with the whole "plain, fancy, improved" thing, but those seem to involve only dashes of liqueurs. Once we get into a whole ounce of liqueur, doesn't it become another class of drink entirely?

A Heering Old Fashioned?

[mkayahara]

A Heering Old Fashioned?

How about we just call it a Red Heering and be done with it?