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.
30 Mar 2007 at 5:34 AM 1. Dominik MJ
Very nice beverage menu!
I think you found an ideal balance between this pompous beverage explanation and the minimalistic bullet point listing of ingredients- well done!
I’ve created last year more a bible of a menu – but my understanding changes now slightly and I prefer now more a more a smaller selection of mixed drinks, which is changing more often… may be supported by the complete list!
Cheers!
DMJ
30 Mar 2007 at 7:24 AM 2. Jeffrey
Dominik, I’d love to see your menu sometime, you should drop me an email through the contact for if you have it on a computer! I have a big collection of cocktail menus from around the world and am always interested in seeing more.
As for the drink descriptions, I prefer the minimal yet informative method. I get tired reading huge descriptions, “Cosmopolitan – Grey Goose vodka, triple sec, a squeeze of lime juice and a dash of cranberry, shaken and served up in a chilled martini glass with a wedge of lime” seems more like a recipe than a listing on a menu.
And, yes, I copied that verbatim from one of the menus in my collection. Yikes.
Take the Richmond Gimlet, for example. My customers know that a gimlet is a lime-based cocktail, so I tell them that it’s a) made with gin, Tanqueray 10 to be specific, and b) different because it has mint. End of story!
This weekend will be the big test. We’re about to see if everyone likes the drinks and, more importantly, if the two of us can knock them all out in a timely fashion. Wish us luck!
30 Mar 2007 at 8:26 AM 3. Dan
The Nacional sounds quite tasty.
Nice menu!
30 Mar 2007 at 8:32 AM 4. Jimmy
Hi Jeff,
Nice menu. I’m working on a new one right now too. I’m going to send it to you for some back-and-forth. When it’s done, I’ll post it at the cocktail hour.
Looks good, I’m going to print it out and have a good look at it today.
Cheers,
30 Mar 2007 at 12:19 PM 5. Phil
Brilliant.
31 Mar 2007 at 12:17 AM 6. kevin ludwig
really nice list. i like the inclusion of the origins. gets people thinking. Great site, by the way.
31 Mar 2007 at 9:33 AM 7. Darcy
Very nice. I like the limited “classics” with the twists.
Darcy
31 Mar 2007 at 12:48 PM 8. Jeffrey
Wow, thanks, everyone! I still feel like I’m a couple drinks shy of where I want to be, but when we’re not cranking them out by the hundreds, we’re searching for the right new flavors. I’ll post my findings if and when I get my act together.
01 Apr 2007 at 1:09 AM 9. A.
The menu looks lovely, and the drink selection looks wonderful (given my limited experience therein). And as an almost absolute teetotaller (what’m I doing here then, I know), thank you for having so many options for people who don’t want to have alcohol. Pomegrante juice is very yay.
02 Apr 2007 at 11:05 AM 10. your little sister
I’m so glad to see Coors Light made the cut.
08 Apr 2007 at 8:04 AM 11. Redthought
Excellent options, I’d have a hard time deciding.
I’m glad to see the whisk(e)y spit up like that. Nice.
I small editing note: you don’t use dollar signs throughout, except with the beer list. Intentional?
I can’t help it, sorry if it’s out of line to edit the menu…
08 Apr 2007 at 7:34 PM 12. Jeffrey
Oops! And here I pride myself on catching stuff like that, thanks for actually paying attention.
I’m reprinting the menus tomorrow, when I add another drink to the list: the Tomato Daiquiri.
You heard me.
08 Jun 2007 at 4:41 PM 13. Summer Murphy
Just a note –
I think the menu looks wonderful! But I’d add a caveat that many people on this side of the Pond make this same mistake:
You list Whisky and Whiskey; Irish, American, and Scotch. That’s rather redundant.
The DRINK is scotch whiskey, the nationality is SCOTS, or so my Grandda Ross always insisted. But then, he also insisted that anyone who drank ice with their whiskey was a Sassenach (English)so and so.
Slainte!
10 Jun 2007 at 10:20 AM 14. Jeffrey
Thanks, Summer! But I don’t understand why it’s redundant, I have Irish Whiskey, American Whiskey, and Scotch Whisky, is that not right?
13 Jun 2007 at 10:08 AM 15. keith waldbauer
jeffrey, i like your menu. a good mix of classics, classics re-interpreted and house-made inventions.
curious why you didn’t list the ingredients on the pisco sour. using the traditional method, i’d assume you use egg whites… knowing egg whites turn people off for fear of salmonella poisoning, i’m sure you left out the ingredients for that reason. is that correct?
also, what makes the Brisa a Brisa and not a Greyhound…?
gonna have to make a trip to Eugene soon
cheers
keith
13 Jun 2007 at 12:41 PM 16. Jeffrey
Keith
You’re exactly right! I wanted people to open themselves up to something new, and I was afraid of alienating people with egg whites. We of course use them in the drink, wouldn’t be a traditional Pisco Sour without them!
The Brisa is equal parts vodka, orange liqueur (we use Patron Citronge) and grapefruit juice – up.
I’ll have to check in the next time I’m in Seattle, an old dear friend of mine tends bar at the Virginia Inn. If you’re ever there, tell Freddy that Morgenthaler sent you.
16 Jul 2007 at 4:46 PM 17. Last Barman Poet
I like it alot Jeff, Good Work.
17 Jul 2007 at 12:51 AM 18. Jeffrey
Thanks, Shawn! I fixed your URL, there, looks like you forgot a ‘w’.
04 Dec 2007 at 9:16 AM 19. ND
Yep, the correct spellings certainly aren’t redundant (even in the US!). Scotch is always spelled “Whisky”, and Irish is always spelled “Whiskey”. Not sure about the others, but there you go.