So why is it, exactly, Old Fashioned? What was New to make this Old?

The Old Fashioned began life as simply “the cocktail,” as the recipe we’d recognize as an Old Fashioned was first published in a newspaper in Hudson, NY, on May 6, 1806, under that name. By 1833, the “bittered sling” was a staple of NYC bars, which featured an ingredient list of water, sugar, bitters, nutmeg, and one of whisky, rum, gin, or brandy. This proto-Old Fashioned was the dominant cocktail and jumping off point for other recipes into the Civil War era.

By the mid-late 1860’s, curaçao, absinthe, orange blossom water, orgeat, and sweet liqueurs had become increasingly popular and common cocktail ingredients as the Golden Age of Cocktails dawned, giving rise to recipes like the Sazerac, the Improved Whiskey Cocktail, the Manhattan, the Daiquiri, and the Martini. As cocktail menus exploded in the 1870’s, bar patrons would sometimes order “a whiskey cocktail, in the old fashioned way,” which indicated a desire for the 1830’s-era recipe. By 1880, bartenders in Chicago had shortened the order name to “the Old Fashioned,” codified that the base spirit used is either rye or bourbon, and the rest is history.

Although I love basically any kind of rye or bourbon in my Old Fashioned, if I’m making it myself I prefer bourbon, and I again prefer my beloved Wild Turkey 101.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

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I learned how to make cocktails watching Danger 5