We Asked A Mixologist: Here's Exactly How To Make A Perfect Old Fashioned Every Time

The old fashioned is so revered by bartenders that it's often the first cocktail they work to master. What appears to be a simple drink of bourbon, sugar, and versatile Angostura bitters is actually an artfully complex drink dependent on the right ingredients and the method of mixing them. Tasting Table talked to Molly Horn, Chief Mixologist and Spirits Educator at Total Wine & More about the secrets of making the perfect old fashioned. 

Horn is against using simple syrup, as many recipes for an old fashioned do, and prefers to muddle a sugar cube directly into the drink instead. "Start with the sugar cube in your mixing glass, and add the few dashes of bitters you plan to use directly onto the sugar cube," she told us. "This will help break it down a little and make it easier to dissolve and integrate into the drink." Using a cocktail muddler, the sugar cube and Angostura bitters should be mixed into a paste before adding the bourbon or rye, either of which is the spirit used for the cocktail. 

Once the sugar and bitters have been fully incorporated, Horn says to, "add your spirit and then your ice, and stir until the outside of the mixing glass is cold to the touch." She offers another pro tip, which is to completely fill your glass with ice beforehand as "this will actually prevent the ice from melting too much into the drink, which risks over-dilution before reaching the optimal temperature."

The old fashioned is considered the oldest known American cocktail. The word cocktail wasn't even in the vernacular until 1806, which at the time described a drink of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. By the late 1800s, bartenders were getting fancy with mixing, and fed-up patrons demanded an old-fashioned cocktail like they use to make. Credit is given to a bartender at the Pendennis Club in Kentucky for creating the official old fashioned in 1880, which he introduced to New York at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar. During Prohibition, bartenders muddled orange and cherry into the cocktail, reportedly to mask the poor-quality alcohol's harsh taste.

The old fashioned got more nuanced over the years, but one aspect never changed: It's a cocktail that should always be stirred. According to Molly Horn, you should "find a good rhythm of stirring several rotations and then firmly stopping with the spoon in the glass every ten or so rotations." You want to smoothly incorporate the sugar paste without agitating the cocktail too much. As you stir, press the back of the spoon firmly against the mixing glass. Horn says, "You don't want to slosh the drink around as that can be detrimental to that smooth, silky texture that is the hallmark of a great old fashioned."

If you want to invest in some old fashioned cocktail kit, start with a decent cocktail muddler, like this JXS dishwasher-safe stainless steel one for $6.99. And if being a bartender suits you, this Mixologists crystal mixing glass for under $14 will come in handy, as will an $18 set of A Bar Above heavyweight bar spoons.