Christening our New bar with an Old Fashioned

Serves 1

I’d been on the hunt for the perfect piece of furniture to serve as our bar for months. 6 months, if you want to get specific. I went to new stores, I looked online, we’ve stopped at every antique or junk or thrift store in the surrounding 100 miles, but either found things that were perfect but too expensive (to the tune of $1,500) not so great, or lovely but way to big or too small for the space. then, on our country looping expedition the other day (read about that here) we stopped in a “junkique” in cleveland that’s only open on weekdays and found something that was PERFECT. It was the right size, the right era, and, best of all, the right price. We brought it home and after filling it with our collection of spirits and barware, decided that 4:45 wasn’t really too early to christen it with a drink.

But what drink? Well, we had about a zillion juice oranges and clementines, and we love bourbon, so we decided to mix up a few old fashioned… besides, who wouldn’t want to break in the new bar with an old fashioned. While I googled recipes I learned that there are right ways and wrong ways to make this classic cocktail, and that the midwestern version comes from Wisconsin and involves brandy, 7Up, and marachino cherries, while the southern version is Kentuckian by origin, decidedly less dressed up and made with bourbon or rye.

Obviously we were going with the bourbon version, but I couldn’t see what was so wrong about a little muddled fruit. I know…I know… no matter who or where you’re making the drink, technically, there is no cherry and no orange slice in a real, classic old fashioned. None. The classic involves bitters, sugar, a twist of orange or lemon, the spirit of choice and some ice. But, I had a new bar, a whole lot of oranges, and a desire to mess with tradition just a teeny bit. so there. If you’re looking to be a purist and make the classic, omit the fruit, but if you want something delicious, and a little bit irreverent, why not go whole hog?

2-3 oz Bourbon

One Orange Slice

1 or 2  frozen fresh cherries (the purists will frown on this, but I had them and they’re SO pretty)

2-3  dashes of Angostura Bitters

1/2 tsp Brown Sugar or one sugar cube

No more than 1 oz Water or club soda (optional)

Ice

Put the orange slice (with the peel), cherry, sugar, and dashes of bitters into an old fashioned style or double glass. It’s important to throw in the orange rind since it has so much flavor and the oils that seep out as you muddle it all together gives the drink a nice citrusy flavor..also, if you’re not sure what a “dash” of bitters is, don’t stress. The bottle top is specifically made for “dashing” and only allows a few drops out at a time (a lot like a bottle of tabasco sauce). I added two good shakes of the bottle and then one to grow on, because I felt like my bitters bottle was being a little stingy. The moral of the story- just go with your gut, there.

 

Muddle these together in the base of a glass with a muddling stick, or a lipstick, or the handle-end of a knife, or other blunt tool until the juices meld together and the sugar has been ground in and there’s a slight lining to the glass. Add in the bourbon (or your spirit of choice).

Now, at this point you can stop if you’re feeling serious about your cocktail, but if it’s a regular old Thursday night and you just wanted that one drink while you visit about the day and plan the dinner menu then add in the water to cut the sincerity, top with ice, and enjoy with style.

If you want to stop by to see our new bar, come on over around cocktail hour.