The Best Old Fashioned Cocktail

How to make the best old fashioned cocktail. In our recipe below, we share our favorite recipe for an Old Fashioned at home and a few of our twists to change it up.

To make a classic old fashioned, you will place all the ingredients (whiskey or other liquor, sugar, and bitters) into a glass. Stir a few times, and then add ice. We like giant ice cubes or ice spheres. See my tips below for making them yourself. Tips for choosing the best alcohol for this recipe are below!

If you love whiskey cocktails, you might also enjoy our Manhattan cocktail. We make it with bourbon. Like this old-fashioned recipe, it only calls for three main ingredients.

Old Fashioned Ingredients

A classic Old Fashioned Cocktail calls for rye whiskey or bourbon. We like to stick with reliable, mid-range bottles. Four Roses is a fantastic everyday choice, especially for the price. Bulleit is popular, too (we’ve got their 10-year rye right now). Our friends rave about Woodford Reserve Double Oaked if you want something special. Of course, the world of whiskey is vast, so if you have a favorite, let us know in the comments!

Don’t limit yourself to just whiskey and bourbon. Gin, brandy, and rum also work in this classic cocktail. We have a soft spot for dark, aged rum. If you see us sipping an old fashioned cocktail, I’ll have one made with bourbon while Adam goes for the dark rum.

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 cocktail a caramel-like flavor that works well with whiskey or rum.

We use two or three dashes of Angostura bitters, which are sold in most liquor stores. A well-stocked store or a quick online search will give you a world of options for more varieties of of bitters.

I also add some fruit. The amount of fruit in an Old Fashioned depends on who’s making it. We’ve seen everything from a handful of muddled oranges and cherries to nothing at all! When I make them, I stick with a piece of orange peel (blood orange is excellent) and a cherry or two.

Try a flaming orange peel! Take a coin-sized slice of orange peel (leave some white pith for easier squeezing), squeeze it between your fingers, and light a match next to it (be careful!). The oils will ignite in a quick flash. Hold it close to, or over, your glass to infuse some toasted orange aroma. We don’t add the peel, but a quick rub of the flamed peel on the glass rim is a nice touch. (Check out our video above to see how we do it.)

Making Clear Ice Cubes for Your Old Fashioned Cocktail

Adam’s gone full-on ice nerd since we’ve been making old fashioned cocktails at home. Regular ice cubes no longer cut it (although I’m not here to shame you into not using them)! Cloudy ice melts fast and breaks apart, which waters down your drink. Clear ice looks way cooler and keeps your cocktail strong.

We love giant ice spheres, but they’re tricky to freeze clear. There are fancy gadgets, but we found an excellent DIY method. Our tap water freezes clear with this technique, but depending on where you live, you might need to use filtered or boiled water.

Here’s the trick (or watch our video):

1. Nest a small container inside an insulated mug. We used a small Rubbermaid container and an inexpensive mug found online.
2. Fill the mug with water, making sure it covers the small container.
3. Fill your sphere mold with water, then plug the hole with your finger.
4. Flip the mold upside-down and carefully submerge it in the mug.
5. Lower the water level in the mug until it’s even with the top of the small container.
6. Freeze it solid!

Adam’s holding our DIY (almost) clear ice ball on the left in the photo above. The one on the right is a regular frozen mold—way cloudier! It did melt slower than regular ice, as seen in our Old Fashioned photo below.