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.
05 Jan 2008 at 2:16 PM 1. Jacob G
Perfect coffee and great cocktails? Likes it! Congrats on the new gig.
05 Jan 2008 at 2:24 PM 2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Thanks, Jacob!
05 Jan 2008 at 2:48 PM 3. canary
I was just there the other evening & heard the news. Congrats!! I’m so glad you two are staying together. :)
05 Jan 2008 at 2:50 PM 4. Dominik MJ
Congratulations – the change of the working place is anytime a bold one!
All the best and a lot of fun!
Unfortunately I won’t come in 2008 to Eugene – but if I’ll find a way to work in the US I’ll find a way to come to Eugene…
Cheers!
DMJ
05 Jan 2008 at 5:45 PM 5. Jimmy
you guys are “just friends,” right?
06 Jan 2008 at 12:18 AM 6. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Dominik, if you ever make it to the Eugene, your drinks are certainly on me.
And Jimmy, we always tell people that we’re “Partners. But not ‘partners’, more like cops. But not like the cop from the Village People”
06 Jan 2008 at 5:32 PM 7. Jeff Frane
Congratulations on the move, although I’ve heard that the bar itself is smaller than your previous location, making it even more difficult to get close enough to watch you two geniuses at work. Maybe the only way to do that is to show up at 4:30.
Kind of a scary photo . . .
06 Jan 2008 at 10:57 PM 8. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Thanks, Jeff. Although there are more than a few out there who would take you to task for the term “geniuses”, we’ll take it in stride and remind you that we carry the Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve – the 20-year.
Hope to see you soon, at 4:30, of course!
08 Jan 2008 at 11:05 AM 9. Marleigh
Congrats! It must be the gigantic four-leaf clover belt buckle that cinched the deal.
Now that you’ve let that Pappy Van Winkle bit slip, I’ll never be able to keep the boyfriend from dragging me up to Eugene for a visit.
08 Jan 2008 at 1:06 PM 10. canary
as always, excellent. you already seemed at home there. very classy bartending at a classy place!
08 Jan 2008 at 2:19 PM 11. erik_flannestad
Congrats, Jeff!
Best of luck in the new venture!
08 Jan 2008 at 8:37 PM 12. mike
Hey Jeff and Scott –
Angela and I missed you guys at El Vaquero tonight!! We will have to stop by Bel Ami to try your Spanish coffee at the new place.
Mike
10 Jan 2008 at 11:16 AM 13. Karama
A bar is only as good as the people
tending it…and the two of you are the best! The drinks were great and
you guys have a way of making patrons feel appreciated and comfortable. The space suits you well. Great move!
Thanks for an enjoyable evening.
(See..I can be nice sometimes!!)
See you again soon:)
10 Jan 2008 at 2:44 PM 14. Lance J. Mayhew
I am SO tempted to embed a certain link in my comment, but I won’t. Suffice to say, google “bel ami” and you’ll be quite amused.
11 Jan 2008 at 12:17 AM 15. Heath Hutto
Enjoy your new digs, then–I’ll stop by whenever I’m in town, and Bel Ami has the advantage of being more in the middle of my Rennies/Davis/Soriah run.
Also, I stopped by El Vaquero a week or so ago, and while I was sorry not to see you, was pleased to see the Dark and Stormy on the menu.
11 Jan 2008 at 12:55 PM 16. Angie
Hi Jeff,
A few words about traveling, cocktails, and your new locale.
After a long holiday break in a land devoid of fine cocktails, we returned to Portland on New Year’s Eve in search of a Sazerac and a fine Manhattan. We shook off the 737 cobwebs and headed straight to the Teardrop Lounge only to find them closed for a private event. We then dropped down to the Park Kitchen and found a similar sign in the window.
After two cocktail thwarts, we headed straight to Vaquero on Jan. 2 only to find…thwart number three.
No Jeff. No Scott. No “New Old-Fashioned.” The initial word at Vaquero was that you were on “hiatus.” I realized after a few minutes that this hiatus was permanent, but was relieved to find out that it was only a permanent break from 5th Street Market.
I look forward to seeing you both in the new location soon.
Congratulations.
Angie
11 Jan 2008 at 1:09 PM 17. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Heath: Great to hear you’re still around, I look forward to making you a cocktail in the near future.
Angie: Sorry to have provided the third in what sounds like a long series of twarts, but I assure you our new location is more than permanent.
See you both soon!
21 Jan 2008 at 5:24 PM 18. Chris
Hey Jeff and Scott – Congrats on the move! Melissa and I will have to stop in sometime soon. Your new digs don’t come with the Balvenie Portwood (or any other Balvenie than the Doublewood) does it??
See you soon.
Chris and Melissa
21 Jan 2008 at 6:08 PM 19. Siobhan
Congrats, boys! I’m a bit late to the game on reading up, but I just returned from a trip to Mexico. Don’t cry for me. ;)
24 Jan 2008 at 12:58 PM 20. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Chris, we have a whole bunch of fun scotches for you to try, but not the Portwood yet.
And Siobhan, I’ll most likely see you in Portland very soon!
24 Jan 2008 at 3:24 PM 21. Lisa and Lori
Hey guys! Lori and I will definitely be visiting you at Bel Ami, but you may have to share us with Tim at the Wine Bar (We still love you the most though!LOL).
27 Feb 2008 at 6:55 PM 22. Robert Dillon
Dear Jeff, Does your bar have live music? The reason I am asking is because we perform as a fingerstyle guitar & percussion duo as shown on my site at GuitarSolo.com … click on the links there for sound tracks (CDs), gig performances, weddings, etc.. We primarily perform my originals and some classical to modern day acoustic (two guitars: acoustic and classical), and would possibly like to perform at your bar. I’ve played at many venues in Oregon since I moved here in May 05. Check us out when you have time, and please get back with me. Thanks, Bob