Latest Drink Recipe
In my opinion, one of the greatest triumphs of the cocktail renaissance is the rediscovery of the classic Old Fashioned. I’ve often spoken of how at some point after the repeal of Prohibition, the Old Fashioned became lost and possibly confused with a long-forgotten drink called a Smash (basically a tarted-up Mint Julep covered in fruit), a mere husk of its former, glorious self.
For decades, bartenders just like me served a limp, weak concoction consisting of a half-muddled sugar cube, a mashed-up neon red cherry and orange, a splash of whiskey, and some soda water drowning the results.
With a little luck, and a lot of hard work, that’s all changed with the renewed interest in classic cocktails. Now at any given night at my bar you can find literally a dozen people sipping on two ounces bourbon touched with a teaspoon of sugar and two dashes of bitters, garnished with a simple orange twist over a couple big ice cubes.
But don’t try to pull that bullshit with the good people of the Great State of Wisconsin, where the Brandy Old Fashioned rules supreme. It’s not the same drink as above, it just shares a name. And if you make it right, really right, it’s a damn delicious cocktail and worthy of examination.
Being located in a hotel, we’re used to serving folks from all over the world. And the first time I witnessed a guest from Wisconsin stare blankly as one of my bartenders handed over two ounces of Cognac touched with a teaspoon of sugar and two dashes of bitters and garnished with a simple orange twist over a couple big ice cubes, I knew some further training was in order.
So in the name of making cocktails – all cocktails – with as much of our hearts as we can offer, I present to you what I believe to be the perfect Brandy Old Fashioned… Wisconsin-style.
I start with an old fashioned glass I’ve chilled in the freezer. Call it a tumbler, call it a double rocks glass, or call it a bucket, it’s a glass you’re familiar with. To that I add two dashes of Angostura bitters and a teaspoon of sugar. If I’m in a hurry I use a 2:1 simple syrup, but if I’m going to spend some time, I use a sugar cube. The sugar cube is preferable here because it’s going to add some friction to the muddling we’re about to do. Brace yourselves, cocktail “nerds”.
Next I’ll take a thick-cut orange wedge, and a cherry. The usual suspect here is a grocery store maraschino cherry, but I always choose a brandied Amarena cherry. Remember, you’re going to get out what you put in, so a quality cherry is going to make the drink that much better.
I muddle the sugar, bitters, orange wedge and cherry into a thick paste, careful not to touch the orange peel too much as it’ll bring unwanted bitterness to the party – just work around the peel and pulverize that orange meat.
Your standard Brandy Old Fashioned brandy of choice is Korbel: cheap California brandy. Considering the hundreds of thousands of cases they ship to Wisconsin every year, it might be considered sacrosanct to use anything else. But if you want to do this right, really right, then do yourself a favor and use some good Cognac. I have my preferred brandy, you have yours.
At this point your typical Wisconsinite barkeep is going to add ice and finish the drink in one of two main ways: sweet or sour. Those who take it sweet will ask for a splash of Sprite or 7-Up, those who take it sour get a dose of Collins Mix or Squirt. To me, it’s just a way of watering down the drink, so I leave out the soda and take a more… cocktail-y method.
Crushed ice is a must for me whenever I whip up a Brandy Old Fashioned. I always skip the soda and let the tiny shards of ice do the work, taming those strong, sweet flavors and turning this into a drink you can sip slowly.
As for a garnish, most will throw a “flag” of an orange wedge and a cherry spiked through with a wooden toothpick, but my take here is that those things are already in the drink, so I skip ‘em. Besides, how pretty does that look without the goofy fruit salad perched over the top?
You know, it’s something to enjoy sipping on while you cook up some bratwurst and onions in a boiling kettle of beer before everyone comes over to watch the Packers game. Drink accordingly.
Brandy Old Fashioned
1 sugar cube or 1 tsp 2:1 simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 orange wedge
1 cherry, preferably Amarena or Maraska
2 oz brandy or Cognac
In a chilled old fashioned glass, muddle the sugar, bitters, orange wedge and cherry into a thick paste, careful not to work the orange peel. Add brandy or Cognac, stir, and fill glass with crushed ice and serve.
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About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. I started tending bar while getting my degree in Interior Architecture, and slowly I came to the conclusion that bartending was what I really loved, and that I might as well drop everything and focus on being a professional bartender. Over the years I have strived, both behind the bar and with this website, to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
08 Feb 2007 at 11:20 AM 1. Jewish mom
Today it’s an exception. When my generation was in their 20’s, men would send unsolicited drinks to trigger that ‘nice girl’ response we were all brainwashed with as children.
“Oh, we can’t turn down the drink. It would be rude!”
“Oh, we have to let him sit down. He bought us a drink and refusing to talk to him would be rude!”
It was a socially acceptable way for a man to force his company upon women. And it was socially UNacceptable for a woman to refuse. Luckily, times have changed.
08 Feb 2007 at 1:48 PM 2. John
This article is right in some and wrong in others aspect. I would have to agree that most women do drink for free when they go to a bar. Most men are willing to pay for them because for some odd reason. I went to Barolo in Manhattan and every woman wanted this drink called G’vine. There were women that were trying to get a free drink, but there were also plenty of women that were actually willing to pay for this G’vine (gin). I had it and I couldn’t stop drinking it. This is one of the only drinks that I have actually seen women running up to the bartender willing to pay for there own drinks.
09 Feb 2007 at 11:23 AM 3. Del Fuego
In my experience, I always avoided the girls who expected drinks bought for them.
One time, I was travelling on business in North Carolina, and stopped into a local pub for a drink. I watched one young lady accept drinks from 3 gentlemen, and she was approaching the end of her 3rd when I stepped to the bar to order my next drink. She turned to me, and asked if was going to buy her a drink, and I calmly looked her in the eye and said “No, you’re buying me this one” and grabbed my beer and walked away.
09 Feb 2007 at 1:03 PM 4. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
There’s another side to that, JM (hey, we’ve got the same initials!). I was taught to tend bar at a VERY old-school neighborhood tavern that was run by a little old lady, Mrs. Lucille Johnson.
Lucille had some very strict rules for the men that visited the bar:
1. If you didn’t arrive with the woman, you weren’t to talk to the woman.
2. If you wanted to buy a lady a drink, you had to have her permission to do so.
As a result, it was always a comfortable place for women to patronize.
These days, Sasha Petraske’s bar Milk and Honey in New York enforces similar rules. Kudos to Sasha for bringing some class back to the bar world.
09 Feb 2007 at 3:16 PM 5. Amy
Thanks for the response Jeffrey. It is a relief to hear that in your opinion it is indeed an exception. I have always tried to be conscientious when drinking at the bar. If someone buys me a round I return the favor. If I were to run up an expensive bar tab I would feel guilty if I allowed a stranger to pick up the tab and a bit obligated. If a women goes to the bar to get free drinks she is most certainly going to have to flirt and put herself on display. The men are essentially paying for the time and attention of a good looking woman and that essentially is to me no different than what goes on a strip club when the strippers start making their rounds and the men buy them drinks. And besides it gives women a bad name.
It is also nice to hear that there are bars where a woman can enjoy a drink in peace because while I don’t drink for free I still have to deal with more than my fair share of lame pick up lines and drunk men that just won’t go away!
14 Feb 2007 at 7:42 PM 6. Leonesse
I was just discussing this the other day with my husband and some friends. They found it utterly amazing that I have never been bought a drink. Of course, I went out to clubs for a total of one year and I am fairly oblivious to flirting, but still… Made me feel abit less than! He then informed me that it would have taken me flirting to get the attention to get the drink, so there went that one. I am horrible at flirting with anyone I don’t know. Just not into it. He said I was probably too intimidating. Not sure what to think of that. :-)
16 Feb 2007 at 5:42 AM 7. Cocktailgirl
I was going to suggest that John is part of the G’vine publicity machine, but then I realised that no one with such terrible grammar would be trusted to write a press release!
Anyhoo, a guy once sent a drink over to where I was sitting in a bar and i have to admit it kind of gave me the creeps. Why not approach and chat? It made me immediately suspect he had a full on james bond complex, while simultaneously making me feel obliged to smile lamely as if I were suddenly in some cheesy 70s disco movie. Took the drink though. Writing this I feel as if this could be perceived as rather curmudgeonly of me – but for god’s sake we’re talking the price of a drink here, he didn’t arrange to pay off my mortgage after noticing the turn of my ankle. If men think they always get landed with the bill: 1. i am amazed as this has never happened to me before or since 2. who’s holding the gun to your head? you’re an autonomous individual, free to pay or not pay like all the rest of us!
09 Mar 2007 at 11:40 PM 8. Natalie Bovis-Nelsen (aka: The Liquid Muse)
Hi all,
I just posted favorably about G’Vine on my blog. I am not part of a sleazy online marketing campaign. I’m a freelance journalist who is not bought off with a bottle of booze.
I have no idea what John’s story is – but I do like the product. Not sure if I’d run up to a bar for it, but I do enjoy sipping it at home…
Maybe he is just an over-enthusiastic fan?