Boozist

Three easy ways to get creative with your Old Fashioned recipe

Old Fashioned recipe

The Old Fashioned is a staple of any decent bar. If they can’t make one, you shouldn’t be there. That doesn’t mean you have to play it straight though. The Queen of Bartenders (National President of US Bartender’s Guild), Pam Wiznitzer, shared three easy ways to be a little more stylish with your Old Fashioned recipe.

Wiznitzer’s standard Old Fashioned recipe:

  • 2 parts Maker’s 46
  • 3 dashes bitters
  • Simple syrup
  • Citrus of choice

In a rocks glass, muddle choice of syrup with choice of sliced citrus (orange, lemon, grapefruit). Add ice, Maker’s 46 and bitters. Stir and enjoy!
Old Fashioned recipe
While that bottle of Angostura and a standard simple syrup are tried and true, Wiznitzer shared a few ways to make your Old Fashioned recipe a bit more interesting. A couple are as easy as a trip to Whole Foods, but if you’re in the market for new cocktail enhancers you in luck as well.

  1. Step up your syrup:
    • Make some cinnamon-infused or tea-infused simple syrup*
  2. Boost your bitters:
  3. Giddieup you garnish (sorry, that was a stretch):
    • Use star anise instead of citrus

*Tea or cinnamon-infused simple syrup: Bring one part water to a boil and add equal parts sugar; stir until dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer one cinnamon stick for 10-15 minutes. Cool for one hour, remove cinnamon stick and chill. For tea-infused, remove water and sugar mixture from heat, add tea bags and infuse for 5 minutes.

Want to get even more loco? Try smoking a Manhattan.