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.
25 Aug 2008 at 1:44 PM 1. Chas. Munat
Not sure how these fine gentlemen contributed to a *gap* in your knowledge, but what the heck, I’ll roll with it.
What I thought was very important was the discussion around the so-called hallucinogenic properties of absinthe/wormwood, which can be summed up neatly thus: there ain’t none and never been none. The absinthe “high” is no different from any other high-proof liquor high, psychosomatic effects excepted. Frat boys go away.
Also interesting was Mark’s comment about sugar contributing to the mouth feel.
25 Aug 2008 at 2:09 PM 2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Oops. That’s what I get when I try to write too quickly.
25 Aug 2008 at 2:36 PM 3. C.B.
If you’ve not read the Wired article about the microbiologist who “reverse-engineered” historic absinthes, definitely do.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/absinthe.html
26 Aug 2008 at 10:15 AM 4. Kelsey Crenshaw
I’m also sure that burning a cube doused in high proof liquor on the spoon could cause some toxins as most that are served in most bars in the US come with a wimpy spoon on the box…Absente is one brand. I’ve experimented with different methods of drinking. I’ve tried the frat boy ritual and have poured it on ice and shaken it with and without sugar…I know the tradition and science and have been a guinnea pig. I prefer it Poured over the cube on the spoon then coolish water poured to melt the cube then I like th glass filled with ICE (the color is so nice with ice). It’s hot in FL!
26 Aug 2008 at 11:41 AM 5. Marleigh
Not only is that horrible absinthe neon blue, it tastes like Aqua Velva. Blech. But the Marteau is lovely!
27 Aug 2008 at 1:17 AM 6. Juno
Total commercially inspired nonsense created by individuals wishing to sell thujone free absinthe in the USA.
Thujone is a natural element in Artemisia absinthium (grande wormwood) and in combination with alcohol has a pronouned effect.
Alcohol and thujone are opposites – as alcohol is a GABA agonist and thujone is an antagonist. Alcohol stimulates the production of this GABA neurotransmitter and causes drowsiness and sleep. Thujone on the other hand prevents alcohol from performing that functiom. Real absinthe – not these USA made copies – is actually a ’speedball’, it’s constituents promote the production of GABA and open its receptors, while at the same time closing those receptors off. This is why the lucidity of an absinthe drinker contrasts to the state of normal drunkness and the experience has been described during the Belle Epoque using the metaphor of the green fairy.
27 Aug 2008 at 10:01 AM 7. Marc
Well, it seems that the marketers of fake (i.e.Czech) “absinth” are monitoring the blogs to try and put their spin on the absinthe revival here in the US and Europe. I’d be willing to bet “Juno” is part of a group of guerilla marketers flooding any blog mention of absinthe. Never mind that current scientific testing of pre-ban absinthes have proven that the thujone theory is dead as a doornail. Never mind that the theory of Dr. Arnold was just that, a theory on the estimated thujone content of pre-ban absinthe and, he admits, never actually tested any absinthe for thujone. Be wary of any of these marketers spewing pseudo-scientific posts that try to prove that any of the new absinthes on the market are not real absinthes. Real absinthe tastes good, and doesn’t need a schlocky “fire ritual” to try to sell itself. Also, keep in mind that since here in the USA, there is no type or standard as to what can be put into a bottle and called absinthe. There are several “absinthes” on the market right now in the USA that, in my opinion, are not absinthe at all, and are hijacking the name of absinthe just to sell a product and cash in on the rising popularity of this historic drink.
27 Aug 2008 at 11:39 AM 8. Juno
“There are several “absinthes” on the market right now in the USA that, in my opinion, are not absinthe at all, and are hijacking the name of absinthe just to sell a product and cash in on the rising popularity of this historic drink”
Please can you tell me which ones, Marc? In your opinion…
27 Aug 2008 at 12:04 PM 9. Gwydion Stone
“Juno” is an employee of a marketing firm that specializes in covert blog spamming.
Notice how he/she glosses right over the fact that pre-ban absinthe has been PROVEN to contain only trace amounts of thujone, many well within current US limits.
Studies have also shown that 19 out of 22 subjects couldn’t tell the difference between alcohol with 0, 10, or 100ppm of thujone.
Even the thujone-added Czech brands of “absinthe” which contain up to 100 ppm have no more “effect” than US brands.
Get the facts:
http://www.wormwoodsociety.org
27 Aug 2008 at 1:45 PM 10. Juno
Quote: “Juno” is an employee of a marketing firm that specializes in covert blog spamming
What proof do you have to back up this outrageous allegation? What marketing firm exactly? You should not make allegations about people, Mr Stone. Think before you write.
Pre-Ban absinthe has not been PROVEN to contain only trace amounts of thujone. The flawed report that you are using to make this claim has already been shown to be wrong using a basic test:
“Thujone is fairly volatile (BP 84 °C), and this small aliphatic ketone can be assumed to be rather reactive. We prepared a fresh 100-ppm standard of α-thujone (Aldrich 89231; 1058112 24706082) in a 50% ethanol/water solution to quantify levels of thujone in wormwood samples. The standard was stored in several tightly sealed glass vials to be used at a later date. After four months, these standards were found to contain less than 10 ppm thujone when compared with a freshly prepared solution”
It begs the question why you choose to make these claims. Perhaps because you are the manufacturer of a brand called “Marteau Absinthe de la Belle Epoque”?
If absinthe from the Belle Epoque era did contain levels of around 260ppm thujone – as has been suggested by Dr Arnold of The University of Kansas – then this would be s problem, no?
I look forward to hearing from Marc which brands of TTB approved absinthe are “hijacking the name of absinthe just to sell a product” and why. Out of interest do you share this opinion, Mr Stone?
Thanks.
27 Aug 2008 at 11:31 PM 11. Gwydion Stone
You are aware that the source of your citation is the very study you call “flawed”, aren’t you?
All this citation suggests is that a fresh, undistilled thujone solution will decrease in concentration after four months, which means that all that alleged “100 ppm” absinthe sitting around in your warehouse is about 3 ppm by now.
On the other hand, absinthes properly distilled strictly according to 19th century formulas and processes—unsurprisingly—contain levels precisely similar to those of analyzed pre-ban samples.
Maybe you guys should try that distillation thing, instead of running affiliate sites.
28 Aug 2008 at 3:46 AM 12. Juno
When thujone degrades – it does – the following chemicals are produced see “Stability of Pulegone and Thujone in Ethanolic Solution”, Frölich and Shibamoto (1990)
“Under variable light and temperature conditions, pH values, and ethanol concentrations, the degradation products formed from the above chemicals were (E)- and (2)-isopulegone, the stereoisomer 8-hydroxy-p-menthones, 8-hy- dro~y-A*(~)-p-menthen-3-0ne, the stereoisomer3-methyl-7-methylenebicyclo[4.2.0]octan-l-ols, and (E)- and (2)-5-methylene-6-methylhept-2-ene.”
Would it be possible to know if tests have been carried out for the presence of the above?
I am still waiting for Marc to name and shame those TTB approved brands which are “hijacking the name of absinthe just to sell a product” and why. I am also waiting to learn if you share this opinion.
Your bizzare personal allegations are amusing but wrong. Absinthe should be fun and you certainly contribute to the laughs! Keep it up, you never know what it might lead to.
28 Aug 2008 at 1:39 PM 13. oregoncoastgirl
Wow. Not the discussion I’d hoped to/ thought I’d see when I clicked through from my RSS reader.
Good job, Morgenthaler. You have people talking. Somewhat.
29 Aug 2008 at 2:20 AM 14. Gwydion Stone
Not to discredit Jeffrey, but this blog spammer hits every blog and news article that mentions absinthe. He/she works for a marketing company that runs affiliate websites selling fake absinthe by using thujone as a marketing gimmick, targeted at gullible druggies.
Once the word started spreading that they were hawking fake crap, they resorted to guerrilla marketing in blogs in a desperate attempt to shore up the waning belief in the thujone hoax.
“Under variable light and temperature conditions,”
Perhaps you’d be so kind as to favor us with a description of those conditions, and which of them apply to absinthes which have been stored in wine cellars for 90 years.
And I’m waiting for you to tell us what happens to a mere 100ppm after sitting in a clear bottle for four months.
Oh, you already did. You pointed out that after only four months it’s down to 10ppm. That suggests that a “100ppm” “absinthe” cannot be relied upon to actually contain that advertised 100ppm.
Like I’ve said countless times: thujone level is irrelevant to the quality of absinthe.
29 Aug 2008 at 5:10 AM 15. Kelsey Crenshaw
The first 4 comments are all about taste and history. Now I keep getting updates sent to my email about how some people have nothing better to do than up each other on the thujone levels in absinthe, There are way more things that are green to worry about in this world. I’m wondering why some people are so concerned with this post. I’m not that concerned about the levels of thujone in my absinthe. I know I’ve probably ingested at least 4,000 flies and other nasties in my life just from what the FDA allows in food. How about pollution, bleach in the water supply, air quality? I drink absinthe for the taste and history. If I wanted to get High I’d smoke weed!!!!!!!