An Old Fashioned Father’s Day by Max
I asked my dad if I could write a little something for his blog because I’ve always enjoyed writing and thought I had some good topics. Being my father’s son, I did some research on a topic near and dear to my liver and was reminded of an aphorism I learned in one of my sociology classes at Beloit College: making the familiar unfamiliar and the unfamiliar familiar. I had envisioned starting this with a tantalizing, self-deprecating hook like, I used to be a mediocre bartender, but here we are.
When I was initially training to be a bartender, I was more of a beer guy. I was given a bit of advice at that time that was lost on me: in order to make truly exceptional cocktails, you have to make, drink and enjoy them; hence why I was mediocre. I don’t think I made bad drinks; I just didn’t make exceptional drinks like others on staff.
A lot of times, the most minimal cocktail recipes were the hardest, just because they really came to balancing ingredients and letting the quality of alcohol shine through (think Martinis and Manhattans). One drink I did perfect through repetition was the Old Fashioned.
Now to get back to how this started; how does the familiar become unfamiliar? Wisconsin prides itself on its version of the Old Fashioned, however, it is almost the antithesis of the drink’s original intent. The original recipe actually comes from Kentucky and is more or less as follows:
In a rocks glass, muddle 1 sugar cube with 2 dashes Angostura bitters;
Add 2 ounces rye or bourbon with ice;
Garnish with an orange twist.
Wisconsin bastardized that with the following:
In a rocks glass, muddle an orange slice, cherry, sugar cube and bitters;
Add 1.5 ounces of brandy;
Fill the glass with ice;
Top with 7up.
The Wisconsin Old Fashioned is the one I started drinking. This version is romanticized in Wisconsin since it is likely what everyone’s parents/grandparents drank when they went out to eat at the supper clubs before dancing at the Elks. However, seeing the two recipes one after the other, you may have noticed how much sweeter the drink is in Wisconsin.
An Old Fashioned should not be that sweet; that ruins the point. I think muddling all the garnishes in with the bitters and sugar cube is a nice touch to do in front of guests to impress them, but the brandy is already incredibly sweet as far as hard alcohol goes, and sugary sodas are gross and should have died in the 90s.
If you drink alcohol, you ought to enjoy it, and I don’t think the Wisconsin Old Fashioned fits that philosophy. There is something so much better about the original recipe -- the way vanilla and wood notes from the bourbon complement the chives and cinnamon from the bitters and are a great combination for the palate. Plus, the orange twist on the rim of the glass really adds your nose to the sensory party.
Now here is what I make at home in my bar:
In a rocks glass, pour 2 ounces of bourbon;
Add a spoonful of simple syrup and 2 dashes Angostura bitters;
Swirl the ingredients with a spoon;
Add ice and club soda to fill the remainder of the glass, then stir again.
My recipe is slightly different from the 2 above, in that I prefer homemade simple syrup to sugar cubes, just because I believe it mixes better and prevents some of the residual granules from the sugar cube. The club soda gives the drink some body and helps move the flavor profiles of the bourbon forward -- though some would adamantly disagree.
If you do order an Old Fashioned in Wisconsin, I’d highly recommend asking for a bourbon Old Fashioned press. You’ll still get the muddled fruit, but the press substitutes the 7up with club soda and a little bit of sour. Requesting the press is crucial to cutting the sweetness and giving the alcohol more room to come forward. Next time you want a drink with brandy in it, just ask for it on the rocks and learn to love that; it doesn’t need to be sweetened. Fingers crossed, these hot takes don’t get my Wisconsin citizenship revoked. I’d hate to be from Illinois.
Lagniappe: Here is my simple syrup recipe: Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar to 1/2 cup water over medium heat and stir until the sugar disappears. You can go wild with this base recipe and do things like add rosemary for Rosemary syrup. Always make your grenadine and syrups at home, as the stuff you buy in stores is trash and in some distant future could give you cancer.
Disclaimer: There has been a peer reviewed link between cancer and alcohol consumption, but everyone deserves a vice and you can Google that on your own.
Music: Thanks, Max, for the preceding Father’s Day gift. I know you weren’t inspired to provide any music, opining that all music goes with cocktails. But you know that I can’t help myself. I am pairing your musings with a song from 1971, the year I graduated from high school. Early in their career, I was not a Three Dog Night fan because I resented that their version of Try a Little Tenderness enjoyed more popular acclaim than the version by Otis Redding. I later learned to enjoy some of Three Dog Night’s music. While the following link may not make you a fan, this Three Dog Night song seems appropriate since it’s An Old Fashioned Love Song. By the way, Paul Williams wrote this song and performed it with the Muppets on their TV show, but you’ll have to find that version on your own. ro