Old fashioned (cocktail) facts for kids
| IBA official cocktail | |
|---|---|
| Type | Cocktail |
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | On the rocks; poured over ice |
| Standard garnish | Orange slice or zest, and cocktail cherry |
| Standard drinkware |
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| IBA specified ingredients  |
|
| Preparation | Place sugar cube in old fashioned glass and saturate with bitter, add few dashes of plain water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whiskey. Stir gently. Garnish with orange slice or zest, and a cocktail cherry. |
| Timing | Before dinner |
| Old Fashioned recipe at International Bartenders Association |
|
The Old Fashioned is a classic type of mixed drink. It's made by mixing sugar with a special liquid called bitters and a little water. Then, a type of whiskey (like rye or bourbon) is added. Finally, it's decorated with an orange slice or peel and a cherry. This drink is usually served with ice in a special glass called an old fashioned glass.
This drink was first created in the 1800s and got its name in the 1880s. It's considered one of the important "official cocktails" by the International Bartenders Association. It's also one of the six main drinks listed in a famous book about mixing drinks, called The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.
Contents
History of the Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned was one of the first and simplest types of mixed drinks. It came about before people started using more complex ways to mix drinks in the late 1800s.
The very first time the word "cocktail" was officially defined was in a newspaper in 1806. A reader asked what the word meant. The newspaper editor explained that a cocktail was a strong mix of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar. This description is basically the recipe for what we now call an Old Fashioned! At that time, it was also known as a "bittered sling."
In the 1860s, people started adding new ingredients like orange liqueur or absinthe to their mixed drinks. But some people preferred the simpler drinks from before the 1850s. They would ask bartenders for a drink made "the old-fashioned way." This is how the name "Old Fashioned" came about.
A barman in Chicago said in 1882 that the most popular "old-fashioned" drinks were made with whiskey. Rye whiskey was even more popular than bourbon at that time. The recipe he described was very similar to the one from 1806.
The Pendennis Club, a club in Louisville, Kentucky, claims that the Old Fashioned was invented there in 1881. They say a bartender made it for Colonel James E. Pepper, a famous bourbon maker. Colonel Pepper then supposedly took the recipe to a hotel bar in New York City. However, some experts think this story isn't true because "old fashioned cocktails" were mentioned in newspapers even before the club opened. Also, the Old Fashioned was really just a new name for a drink that had been around for a long time.
Because of its connection to the city's history, Louisville, Kentucky, named the Old Fashioned its official cocktail in 2015. Every year in early June, Louisville celebrates "Old Fashioned Fortnight." This event includes special activities and deals related to bourbon and the Old Fashioned.
In 2020, a drinks magazine reported that the Old Fashioned was the most popular classic cocktail in the world for the sixth year in a row!
Old Fashioned Recipes
George Kappeler wrote one of the first books with recipes for Old Fashioned drinks in 1895. He included recipes for Old Fashioned drinks made with whiskey, brandy, and different types of gin.
Here's how his whiskey Old Fashioned recipe worked (a "jigger" was about 2 ounces):
Dissolve a small lump of sugar with a little water in a whiskey-glass; add two dashes Angostura bitters, a small piece ice, a piece lemon-peel, one jigger whiskey. Mix with small bar-spoon and serve, leaving spoon in the glass.
By the 1860s, as shown in Jerry Thomas's 1862 book, many basic mixed drink recipes included liqueurs like Curaçao. But these liqueurs were not in the early 1800s descriptions of cocktails, nor in the "old-fashioned" recipes from the 1880s or Kappeler's book. The main differences in the Old Fashioned recipes from the late 1800s were how they were made. They used sugar and water instead of sweet syrups, and they didn't add extra liqueurs. These "old-fashioned" recipes were literally for drinks made the old way!
Here are some historical recipes:
Gin Cocktail
Use small bar glass
3 or 4 dashes of gum syrup
2 do [dashes] bitters Bogart's
1 wine glass of gin
1 or 2 dashes of Curaçao
1 small piece lemon peel
fill one-third full of fine ice shake well and strain in a glass
Old Fashioned Holland Gin Cocktail
Crush a small lump of sugar in a whiskey glass containing a little water,
add a lump of ice,
two dashes of Angostura bitters,
a small piece of lemon peel,
one jigger Holland gin.
Mix with a small bar spoon.
Serve.
A book from 1948 by David Embury suggested a slightly different recipe. It used 12 parts American whiskey, 1 part simple syrup, and 1 to 3 dashes of Angostura bitters. It was garnished with a twist of lemon peel. Other recipes from the 1900s varied a bit, but they usually didn't include the cherry (which became popular after 1930) or soda water. Orange bitters were also a common ingredient in the late 1800s.
How the Old Fashioned Changed
The first Old Fashioned recipes used whiskey that was common in America in the 1800s, like Irish, Bourbon, or rye whiskey. But in some places, like Wisconsin, people started using brandy instead of whiskey. This was sometimes called a "brandy old fashioned." Over time, other spirits became common too, like gin, which became popular in the late 1940s.
Today, common decorations for an Old Fashioned include an orange slice or a maraschino cherry, or both. However, these additions only became popular around 1930, long after the original recipe was created. While some recipes started using orange peel for flavor, the idea of mashing orange or other fruits into the drink didn't become popular until the 1990s.
Some newer versions of the Old Fashioned are much sweeter. For example, some add blood orange soda to make a fizzy version, or mashed strawberries to make a strawberry Old Fashioned. Modern versions might also use fancy ice shapes. But some experts say that these extra decorations go against the simple spirit of the original Old Fashioned.
The Old Fashioned in Pop Culture
The Old Fashioned is the favorite drink of Don Draper, the main character in the TV show Mad Men. This show is set in the 1960s. When the show became popular in the 2000s, it helped bring back interest in the Old Fashioned and other classic mixed drinks.
The Old Fashioned was also part of a funny line in the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In the movie, a pilot decides to make an Old Fashioned and leaves his passenger to fly the plane. When the passenger asks, "What if something happens?", the pilot famously replies, "What could happen to an old-fashioned?" This scene was even made fun of in an episode of the cartoon show Archer.
See also
In Spanish: Old Fashioned (cóctel) para niños
