Man Card Monday - Tips for maintaining accountability of Manliness

The Old-Fashioned



Old-Fashioned. What you should be drinking

 

 

Cocktails. Yeah, I know - 'Those are for girls!'. Wrong. Do you like bourbon? Oh you do? Good. Keep reading. What's that? You don't like bourbon?? Hand over your Man Card right now and go back to playing Angry Birds on your super-cute iPad, because you obviously have zero taste. In the movie 'Team America: World Police', the good guys were on their way back from liberating the SHIT out of some foreign country and Spottswoode says 'Great job, team. Head back to base for debriefing and cocktails.' What kind of cocktails do kick-ass liberators of the already-free drink? That's right - The Old-Fashioned.

 

 

 

So what is an Old-Fashioned? A badass drink made with bourbon, bitters, sugar, orange peel, and sometimes a cocktail cherry. Here are a couple spins on the original recipe from Bourbon & Boots' website - http://www.bourbonandboots.com/history-of-the-old-fashioned-cognac-vs-bourbon/

 

 

 

Cognac Old Fashioned
Ingredients
2.5 ounces VS (Very Special) or VSOP (Very Special Old Pale) Cognac
1 to 2 sugar cubes
1 bar spoon of water (about a teaspoon)
3 to 4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 wide orange peel for garnish
Standard bar ice
1 chunk ice
Technique
In a mixing glass, add the sugar cubes first, then the water, then the bitters. Use a bar spoon to stir these ingredients into a nice syrup. Add Cognac. Stir vigorously without ice until last of sugar begins to dissolve. Add bar ice and stir for 30 seconds. Put your nice large chunk of ice into an Old Fashioned glass, and strain the cocktail over it. Garnish with wide orange peel by twisting over the glass, and running around the rim. Place the peel on top of the ice and enjoy.

Modified Bourbon Old Fashioned
Ingredients
2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Standard bar ice
1 chunk of ice
1 wide lemon peel
Technique
Combine the bourbon, Apricot Liqueur and bitters in a mixing glass with standard bar ice. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain over a large chunk of ice in an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with 1 wide lemon peel. Enjoy.

"But bourbon should only be enjoyed one way - neat!" Whatever, save the 'neat' and 'sliver of ice' for the really good bourbon. I can agree on that. But if you have a random bottle of bourbon collecting dust in your bar, go ahead a make an Old-Fashioned.