The Old-Fashioned was originally created in the late 19th century in Louisville, Kentucky. That’s also why the original recipe was bourbon based. The drink was purportedly created for Colonel James E. Pepper, a third generation whiskey distiller and creator of the 1776 James E. Pepper whiskey brand.
The drink, because of the muddling of ingredients, called for a different kind of glass at the time, creating the term of the “old-fashioned glass.”
The traditional old-fashioned:
- 1 cube of sugar (or 2 tablespoons)
- 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 strip of Lemon yest
- 2 Orange slice (1 for garnish)
- 2 maraschino cherry (1 for garnish)
- 2.5 ounces of bourbon
- chilled club soda (at discretion according to personal taste)
Steps:
In a chilled old-fashioned glass, saturate the sugar cube with bitters. Add the lemon zest, one orange slice, and one cherry. Muddle thoroughly. Fill the glass with ice and add the bourbon. Stir well and top off with club soda, if desired. Garnish with leftover cherry and orange slice.
Variations:
For a fruitier taste, the whiskey can be muddled together with the fruit and the sugar. There are various alternatives using scotch or canadian whiskey instead of bourbon, according to personal taste. Last but not least, the Claremont, a fruiter version, calls for 2 cherries and 2 orange slices in the muddled mix and 0.5 ounce of orange curaçao.
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