
After some research, we found this tutorial for making clear ice balls using an insulated mug. We went the more DIY, budget-friendly route. So how do you make clear ice cubes? There are quite a few gadgets you can buy online. In other words, the clearer ice cubes are, the less dilution your cocktail will need to endure. This all matters because cloudier ice cubes are less dense so they melt much quicker and break apart easier than clearer ice cubes. Worse still, if you use the sphere mold, the water freezes in such a way that when you add the sphere to your drink, it has a very high chance of breaking into pieces. The problem is that if you just add water and freeze, you will be left with cloudy ice. I’m sure you’ve seen various large ice cube molds like this sphere mold (what we have). None of this is required for your cocktail, but since we used two of his ice balls in our photo and considering we’ve already bonded over our love of the Old Fashioned, I thought I’d take a shot at explaining what we’ve learned. Since we’ve gotten into making Old Fashioned cocktails at home, Adam dorked out a little and looked into the how and why of clear, large ice cubes. The flavor and aroma of the drink really changes and while we don’t do this all the time, it’s fun to experience the difference. (See our video above to see it in action) If you do all of this close to or over the glass, a toasted orange aroma will fall down over the drink. We don’t add the flamed peel to the drink, but rubbing the flamed peel around the rim of the glass is a nice touch. To do it, take a coin-sized slice of orange peel (with quite a bit of the white pith intact so it is easier to squeeze), squeeze it between your fingers and light a match or lighter next to it (be careful). If we’re feeling feisty, we’ll go for a flaming orange twist. A 2-inch piece of orange or blood orange peel and a cherry (or two for me) and we’re happy. We’ve seen everything from multiple slices of orange and an abundance of cherries muddled together then served in the glass to an Old Fashioned with no fruit whatsoever.

Our standby is Angostura bitters, but one look in a well stocked store or online proves there are lots to experiment with.ĭepending on who makes it, the amount of fruit added to an Old Fashioned varies. Swapping white sugar for brown sugar makes a rich, almost caramel-like syrup that works well in Old Fashioned cocktails. Honey or maple syrup are also a nice idea. Using simple syrup lets you play a little, too. Simple syrup is ridiculously easy to make and since it lasts ages in the fridge, we can make one large batch and go back to it each time we want to make a cocktail. You can certainly use a superfine sugar (many people do), but keep in mind that the sugar needs to completely dissolve, otherwise you’ll end up with an unsweetened drink and sugary sediment at the bottom of your glass. There’s obviously many, many more options when it comes to whiskey so if you’ve got a favorite, share it in the comments below. If you’re in the mood to try something more special, our friends swear by Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. We have their 10 year Rye in our bar right now. For Bourbon and Rye, we like Four Rose’s a lot, especially for being so well priced. Bulleit is a popular choice, too. Whatever we go for, we stick to mid-range priced bottles. In fact, if you were to walk into a bar and see us sipping on an Old Fashioned, you’d most likely see me with rye and Adam with aged rum.


We particularly love switching the whiskey for a dark, aged rum. Gin, brandy and rum all work really, really well. That doesn’t mean to say that there aren’t other options. Most commonly, bourbon or rye whiskey are called on for the Old Fashioned.
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Instead, I’m going to show you how we make it when we’re in the mood for a cocktail at home, plus a few twists for fun! The Alcohol
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How to Make an Old Fashioned CocktailĬocktails at home should be fun and never stressful so we aren’t going to bore you with all the do’s and don’ts when it comes to making the Old Fashioned. Related: How to Make a Classic Bourbon Manhattan – You only need three main ingredients to make a classic bourbon Manhattan cocktail recipe at home.
