Welcome, RTD Cocktail Club Members, to our March installment! Each month we will be featuring a classic cocktail, sharing the story behind it, and bottling it along with three interesting variations for you to try and enjoy at home. This month we take a look at the Old Fashioned.
History
Cocktails as we know them today inhabit a wide-ranging spectrum of ingredients, complexity, and preparation. Throughout most of recorded and pre-history, however, alcohol (in the form of beer, mead, cider, wine, and later, spirits) was crafted as a stand-alone beverage, often reserved for the ruling class or ceremonial purposes, or consumed as an alternative to unsafe drinking water. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the mixing of alcohol, particularly spirits, with other ingredients started to become a trend in Western cultures. Modeled somewhat after medicinal tonics, and beginning with simple ingredients such as sugar and fruit, the first proto-cocktails became an alternative to sipping straight spirits. The typical recipe included sugar, bitters, water, and a spirit, usually gin, brandy, or rum. By the mid 19th century, a wider variety of spirits and liqueurs became available and bartenders began to get more creative, leading to the first classic cocktails to have different recipes of specific ingredients and quantities.
As with all progress, however, there are inevitably a few troglodytes who prefer the “old-fashioned way” of doing things. And thus, the retroactively-named Old Fashioned was rendered a distinct cocktail all its own, a repudiation of the new category of drinks being developed by the emerging cocktail culture, devoid of new-fangled ingredients or styles of preparation.
The typical recipe now includes an orange zest and/or cherry garnish, which in itself is most likely a nod to the orange curaçao and maraschino that were some of the original interloping cocktail ingredients to be introduced. While European recipes maintained a flexibility with the base spirit, the American palate skewed heavily in the direction of whiskey, which is the standard ingredient today.
Naturally, seeing as gin was one of the original ingredients, it seemed a perfect recipe to explore in the Club!
Recipes
CLASSIC
2oz Bimini Gin
3 dashes Scrappy’s Grapefruit bitters
1 sugar cube or 1/4oz rich syrup
Splash soda
Place sugar cube (or syrup) and bitters in a rocks glass. Crush the sugar cube into the bitters, scraping it against the bottom and lower sides of the glass to coat. Add a large cube of ice to the glass and pour the gin over the top. Stir gently to chill and top with soda. Garnish with grapefruit, lemon, or orange zest.
OVERPROOF
2oz Bimini Overproof
.25oz winter citrus oleo-saccharum syrup
4 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
Splash soda
Follow classic instructions. Garnish with lemon or orange zest.
BR1
2oz Bimini Barrel Reserve No. 1
.25oz salted honey gomme syrup
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Splash soda
Follow classic instructions. Garnish with lemon or orange zest.
COCONUT
2oz Bimini Coconut
.25 barley-cacao syrup
3 dashes Angostura Cocoa bitters
Splash soda
Follow classic instructions. Garnish with lemon or orange zest.
ADDITIONAL RECIPES
WINTER CITRUS OLEO-SACCHARUM
Combine 1 cup of white sugar with the peeled zest of 4-6 citrus fruits (we used a combination of grapefruit, lemon, and blood orange). Using a wide mixing spoon, crush the zest into the sugar to coat completely. Continue muddling and stirring for 3 minutes. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 48-72 hours until the oil has been extracted. Carefully remove the zest from the sugar syrup and discard (or dry in a low oven for candied peel!). Stir the sugar/oil mixture vigorously to dissolve the remaining sugar crystals. Up to 1 tablespoon of water or neutral spirit may be used to help dissolve if necessary. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
SALTED HONEY GOMME SYRUP
Combine 2oz of hot water with 2oz (by weight) of powdered gum arabic. Mix until it forms a slurry. Allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Add 2oz honey, 4oz white sugar, 2oz water, and a pinch of sea salt to the gum arabic mixture. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
CHOCOLATE BARLEY & CACAO NIB SYRUP
Combine 2.5oz cacao nibs, 1oz crushed black barley, and 1oz chocolate wheat malt with 16oz of water in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain out solid ingredients and return the liquid to the pan. Stirring occasionally, continue simmering to reduce the syrup for about 20 minutes taking care to not burn the bottom. Measure the volume of the liquid and add an equal amount of sugar (we used raw sugar but white sugar would also work). Stir until completely dissolved. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
WHAT NOT TO DO
We here at the RTD Cocktail Club are inclusive drink enthusiasts who understand the value of classic recipes while respecting differences of taste, approach, and opinion.
However…no. Just no.
Please enjoy (?) this infamous viral video of the worst possible Old Fashioned recipe.
DO NOT DO THIS! THIS IS OBJECTIVELY INCORRECT!
The best we can do is call it an Alcohol-Poisoning Whiskey Smash.
