Bourbon Old Fashioned

by Sara Lindquist
Monday, Sep 19, 2016


A classic bourbon old fashioned to warm your belly as the weather cools. (Photo: Sara Lindquist)

With September half gone and the first day of autumn only a week away, the weather is finally starting to welcome a shift in cocktail styles. Summer is great for light and fizzy, fruity and refreshing. But as we head into fall, I’m more apt to go for something with deeper flavor and less ice. Enter the old fashioned.

Don’t be intimidated by its reputation. The old fashioned is one of the easiest classic cocktails to make, and a good one to keep in your arsenal. Get familiar with your ingredients: bourbon, bitters, sugar, water. You can create endless variations using different spirits and complementing ingredients. But first, let’s tackle the original.

Recipe: 

• 1 teaspoon sugar, mixed with a few drops of warm water
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3 dashes orange bitters (Regan's brand is a favorite)
• 2 1/2 ounces bourbon (your choice)
• 1 orange peel strip, for garnish
• Ice

 

Directions:

This cocktail uses minimal ingredients, so it’s important to work with quality ones. For an early fall old fashioned, I prefer a younger bourbon like Berkshire Mountain Distillers’ Berkshire Bourbon Whiskey. It’s got subtle warmth with notes of vanilla and caramel. 

1. In a cocktail shaker, stir sugar and water with both bitters and 3 ice cubes.
2. Add bourbon and continue stirring until chilled. Strain into a cold rocks glass over as much fresh ice as you like (2 rocks is our preference). Garnish with an orange peel.  

 

*Serves 1

About the Author

Craving Boston's Sara is a Boston-based cocktail enthusiast and bon vivant. Outside of her job in real estate, she enjoys mixing drinks and entertaining for friends in her tiny Beacon Hill apartment, and eating and imbibing at restaurants and bars – and Instagramming her favorites – throughout the greater Boston region.