Recipe The Old Fashioned

The Late Night Gourmet

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I searched for this drink on this forum before posting this, and I found references to being stuck in your ways, and to donuts. Allow me to share the best use of that name out of the three.

Ingredients

1 large orange, ripe
1/2 tsp sugar
Angostura bitters
2 ounces Four Roses Kentucky bourbon
ice

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Directions

1. Add sugar and bitters to the glass. I know I use more of both and traditional recipes. Do you know why I use more? Because it’s my recipe, that’s why.

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2. Squeeze some of the orange juice into the glass, and swirl around. Roll around the glass to distribute the sugar. You’ll understand why in a moment if you don’t already know.

Purists may point out that there is a tradition of muddling the sugar with the little wooden stick. This way works perfectly well.

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3. Spreading the sugar around like this ensures that it will all dissolve. It doesn’t bother me, but I know some drinkers of this drink can’t stand sediment sugar on the bottom of the glass: it’s considered bad form. I just like it to be dissolved completely. These were exceptionally ripe oranges, and there was a lot of juice.

4. Add bourbon, and squeeze remaining juice into the glass. Stir to incorporate.

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5. Most makers of this drink have already added ice, and they squeeze the juice into it. I like making sure the sugar is fully dissolved and the bourbon distributed, THEN adding ice as appropriate.
 
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Most call for simple syrup. Are you considering the fresh orange juice as a substitute?
Simple syrup is basically just sugar dissolved into water. Now that I think of it, I usually add an ice cube to the juiced orange to dissolve the sugar. But, as I mentioned, these were very ripe oranges, so there was plenty of juice there already. I never thought of buying simple syrup because it's easy enough to make (and, I'm too lazy to actually make it, hence the method I use to dissolve the sugar).
 
Simple syrup is basically just sugar dissolved into water. Now that I think of it, I usually add an ice cube to the juiced orange to dissolve the sugar. But, as I mentioned, these were very ripe oranges, so there was plenty of juice there already. I never thought of buying simple syrup because it's easy enough to make (and, I'm too lazy to actually make it, hence the method I use to dissolve the sugar).
Most of the time, I just make "bar simple syrup," a no-cook version using superfine quick-dissolve sugar (normally available at any Kroger or other major grocery) and water.

Put the sugar in a jar, put in the water, and shake until it dissolves. POOF! Instant simple syrup. It what a lot of bars do, hence the name. :)
 
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