Cocktail Bar: Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned

Bourbon (or Rye), sugar, bitters, citrus oils

The Old Fashioned is the benchmark of whiskey cocktails, simple, restrained, and unapologetically spirit-forward. Built to showcase the character of great bourbon or rye, it balances sweetness, bitterness, and citrus aromatics without ever overshadowing the whiskey itself. Elegant, timeless. It remains the gold standard by which all classic cocktails are judged.

Few cocktails can claim a lineage as long or as influential as the Old Fashioned. Its roots trace back to the early 19th century, when a “cocktail” was formally defined as a combination of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. As more elaborate mixed drinks emerged, some drinkers began requesting their whiskey prepared the old-fashioned way, simple, honest, and unadorned. By the late 1800s, the name had stuck. The Old Fashioned became synonymous with American whiskey culture, especially during Prohibition.

Glassware

Tumbler

Ingredients

• 60ml Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
• 1 sugar cube (or 5–7ml simple syrup)
• 2–3 dashes aromatic bitters
• Orange peel

Method

• Add sugar cube to the glass and saturate with bitters
• Add a small splash of water and gently muddle to dissolve
• Add a large ice cube
• Pour over whiskey
• Stir gently until chilled and integrated
• Express orange peel oils over the glass and drop in

ABV

Bourbon Brothers provide everything you need to craft this essential whiskey cocktail at home. Choose the Old Fashioned Cocktail Gift Haper or select the individual ingredients to suit your preferred style bourbon or rye, bold or restrained.

The Hamper contains

• Woodford Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Bitters (Angostura or Fee Brothers)
• Australian dehydrated orange slices
• Old Fashioned cocktail recipe card