An Old Fashioned is a go-to old school cocktail in my book and definitely required for a Madmen Premier cocktail party. While a rye whiskey is a good move if you’re channeling Don Draper, if you grew up in Wisconsin, like me, you’ll probably feel nostalgic towards the Brandy version. It’s a little sweeter, so you may wish to up the bitters. 1 orange round and ½ an inch thick; quartered 2 maraschino cherries ½ teaspoon sugar; coarse is best 3 dashes Angostura bitters 2 ounces whiskey or brandy club soda orange and cherry garnish if you like Place the orange quarters and the cherries in the bottom of a heavy glass. Dash the bitters in and top with the sugar. Muddle the fruit well. Add the whiskey. Add ice. Splash with club soda if you like. Garnish if you like, though I consider the initial fruit the garnish. … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Old School Cocktails
I love this gin-based Aviation Cocktail for all it’s refined floral and citrus notes, but picking the right gin is important because of the more subtle ingredients in the cocktail (i.e. the maraschino liquer and the creme de violette). One of the properties that makes gin-based cocktails interesting to me is that gins taste quite differently from brand to brand. Some are more neutral, some are very herbaceous, some are traditional in their juniper notes and some stray very far from that classic taste. They all have their place, but some drinks I’ve very specific about: I really like Hendricks with herbs and a gin and tonic requires Tanqueray to make me really happy. I’m a little more flexible when I make Marc’s favorite drink, the Aviation cocktail. I tend to use Sapphire, but I have liked Beefeater and Plymouth as well. The milky blue color that’s so unique to the Aviation is caused when the crème de violette and the citrus interact. I don’t really know why, but it’s really cool and creates a very unique blueish purple hue. A drink this good requires a really good maraschino cherry as well, so this is another great drink to showcase … Continue reading
