Easy Christmas Old Fashioned Recipe — Sugar & Cloth (2024)

FAQs

Is an Old Fashioned better with simple syrup or sugar cube? ›

Use Rich Simple Syrup

The sugar cube is one Old Fashioned tradition that can definitely be skipped. While many recipes call for it, it offers no advantage over using a rich simple syrup and has several disadvantages. Most obviously, you have to find and buy sugar cubes and a muddler.

The classic recipe, according to most mixologists, calls for Brown Demerara sugar cubes. Sugar cubes are previously measured, allowing for consistent whiskey to bitters ratios. The Angostura aromatic bitters have a rich scent of fruits and spices and are a necessary component of any classic Old Fashioned co*cktail.

Add a splash of water and muddle the sugar until it dissolves fully in the water and bitters. Only add enough water to dissolve the sugar. Next, add ice.

With bitters, a little bit goes a long way. Two or three drops will add much depth to your Old Fashioned.

One teaspoon of granulated white sugar equals about 1.5 teaspoons of simple syrup. If your recipe calls for a teaspoon of simple syrup, you might want to drop in only about two-thirds of a teaspoon of the granulated variety. You can always add more sugar, but you can't take it back out.

3 Key Elements of an Old Fashioned (Besides Whiskey) & How to Hack Them. 1. Sugar: The Old Fashioned is traditionally made with either granulated white sugar or a sugar cube. Superfine bar sugar is fast-dissolving and eliminates the potential for a crunchy co*cktail, as does simple syrup.

The best old fashioned recipes call for sugar to balance the alcohol. I use simple syrup, which quickly dissolves and is simple to make. It also allows us to play around and use brown sugar instead of white sugar for the syrup, giving our co*cktail a caramel-like flavor that works well with whiskey or rum.

Sweetener: A sugar cube (1 teaspoon granulated white sugar) is said to have been the original sweetener for this co*cktail, which is typically soaked with a few shakes of bitters and muddled with a splash of water.

With co*cktails that are spirits, liqueurs and fortified wines only (this includes your, Manhattan, Martini, Old Fashioned, Negroni, they should be stirred, not shaken, because over-oxidation makes the whole inferior to the sum of the parts.

The Old Fashioned co*cktail dates back to the late 1800s. It's said to have been created by bartender, James E. Pepper in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a classic co*cktail made with whiskey (bourbon or rye), Angostura bitters, orange peel (or lemon), and a muddled sugar cube.

How do you make an Old Fashioned taste better? ›

Chocolate or walnut bitters work well in this drink if you can find them. I also like Dale DeGroff's pimento bitters. Technique: The most balanced Old Fashioned is made by stirring the drink with ice for about 20 to 30 seconds and then straining that mix over fresh ice. Garnish: Orange twist, lemon twist, or both.

If you prefer to be more heavy-handed on the bitters, I won't get mad at you). Try making an Old Fashioned without bitters though, and you just have a glass of whiskey with some sugar in it (who wants that?) It's a small ingredient in terms of proportion but bitters essentially make an Old Fashioned, an Old Fashioned.

Old Grand Dad 114 earns our distinction of the best bourbon for old fashioned. Orange zest, cinnamon, and burnt sugar are the signature tasting notes of Old Grand Dad 114 Proof . A few drops of water and muddled sugar help dial down the heat to form a co*cktail as accessible as it is memorable.

Be very conservative with the water at the end. Muddle carefully in the bottom of an old fashioned glass the sugar, Angostura, one orange, one cherry, and a splash of soda. Remove the orange rind and add Bourbon, ice, and soda or water. Garnish with a fresh orange slice and a cherry.

Large cube/ King cube / Old Fashioned rocks: This is your entry-level, show-off ice. Generally measuring 2×2-inches, the idea is that you only use a single cube for less dilution in things you'll drink slowly, like spirit-forward co*cktails or a single pour on the rock(s).

Because of simple syrup's liquid nature, it works much better than sugar granules in most drinks — but especially those that come cold or iced. Cold drinks are far less likely to dissolve sugar, so, by this same token, it's better to use simple syrup in lieu of sugar in a cold drink.

If you're looking for a simple syrup substitute, there are three favorites you probably have right in your home: honey, maple syrup and agave. For honey or agave, add warm water to them, to help turn the mix to syrup. You can also use a sweet, juicy fruit, like an orange.

Simple syrup is a liquid sweetener made by dissolving sugar in water. That's literally it. Simple syrup disperses sweetness evenly throughout beverages of any temperature, making it a key component of many iced drinks and co*cktails (like sparkling beet lemonade or a whiskey sour).