Old Fashioned

A couple days ago I started curing cherries in bourbon.  I had some syrup saved that I had poached overripe peaches in.  In the liquid was star anise, cardamom and a vanilla bean.  At a bit of a loss for what I’d use it for, I added it to the curing liquid.  Only a few days in and it seems to work nicely with the bourbon, adding a delicious element to the cherries.

I couldn’t wait to try them though.  Thankfully, the flavour had seeped into the cherries enough for my impatience to use.  I thought I’d make an Old Fashioned, albeit a little different from the original, i.e I used grapefruit rind in place of orange.  To be honest, I’m not completely sure that the traditional recipe calls for orange. 

The old fashioned is as basic a cocktail as you can get.  It follows the original definition of cocktail to a T: Spirit, bitters, sugar, water.  More often than not ordering one will get you a whisk(e)y O.F. (usually rye or bourbon).  The drink is not spirit specific, however, and can be made with just about anything from gin to Amarula (personally, I think the latter would be vile).

To start

Take an Old Fashioned glass (aka, rocks glass) and add the grapefruit zest, lemon zest and cherry.  Gently press the rinds with a muddler to release the oils in the skin.  Then, crush the cherry.

Fill about half the glass with ice, add bitters and half the portion of spirit for the drink.  The recipe usually calls for Angostura bitters, but I added my own orange bitters for a lark.  I used Beam, though my personal choice would be Makers Mark.  Add simple syrup (or raw sugar if you like it the hard way) to taste.  Be thrifty.  Then stir for about fifteen seconds.

 

Fill the remainder of the glass with ice and add the remainder of the spirit.  Stir again and adjust bitters and sugar if so desired. The key to a successful O.F. is balance.  Balance in sweet, bitter and dilution.   You’ll know when it’s just so; it will be harmonious on your tongue. Stir for another fifteen seconds or so.   

The final step is to tart the drink up.  Fill with a bit extra ice if dilution thinned it out too much. I tossed a cherry on top with a grapefruit segment to boot.  Delicious.  When it comes to the garnish, don’t be stingy and let your imagination take over.  It used to be that O.F.s were so loaded with fruit that they could be mistaken for Carmen Miranda on a hot day.  

Sip well and drink while it’s still smiling.

Voilà

 

The grapefruit brought a delicate aroma and flavour to the drink.  Anything with more body than Beam would have overpowered the flavour.  Perhaps gin, or rum?  The orange bitters came through with the cardamom flavour hanging in the back.  The cherries are delicious, I can’t wait to taste them after a week or two. All in all, a success.

 

The recipe

2oz Bourbon

6 dashes of Angostura bitters

4dashes of Orange bitters

1/4 ounce of simple syrup

zest of lemon and grapefruit

Bourbon cherry

 

Cheers.

 

Thanks to Brett for the photos.

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~ by Bon Vivant on 22/06/2009.