Old Fashioned
Whiskey, rolling smooth
The original cocktail, stripped to its essence: whiskey, sugar, bitters, water. The sugar cube slowly dissolves into bourbon warmth while Angostura adds spice and depth. Timeless for a reason.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz Bourbon
- 1 Sugar Cube
- 3 dashes Angostura Bitters
- A few dashes Water
Method
Place the sugar cube in a rocks glass. Saturate it with bitters and add a few dashes of water. Muddle until the sugar is dissolved. Add a large ice cube and pour in the bourbon. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with an orange twist. A maraschino cherry is optional — purists skip it.
Term "old-fashioned cocktails" emerged circa 1880; earliest published recipe in Theodore Proulx's 1888 Chicago bartending manual. The Pendennis Club origin story is contradicted by documented 1880 references. Per Difford's Guide #4782. IBA The Unforgettables list. Notes: widespread origin attribution to James E. Pepper and the Pendennis Club (founded 1881) is historically inaccurate per cocktail historian David Wondrich; Chicago Daily Tribune referenced old fashioned cocktails in February 1880, predating the club's founding.
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