How to make a classic Old Fashioned cocktail, plus a few easy twists for making it your own.
We fell hard for the Old Fashioned cocktail years ago when we lived in Seattle. Old Fashioned cocktails are classic for a reason. Made with bourbon (or rye whiskey), sugar, bitters, and a twist of orange peel. I’m also partial to adding a cherry, but that’s optional.
Once you’ve experienced the classic, you can have some fun with changing the base alcohol—dark rum, for example, is exceptional—and you can play around with the sugar. We’ve shared a few suggestions below! For more like this, take a look at how we make a Manhattan cocktail.
Key Ingredients
- Bourbon or Whiskey: You’re going to taste it, so choose a bottle you love. We stick with mid-range bottles like Four Roses or Bulleit, or try Woodford Reserve Double Oaked (a recommendation from one of our Old Fashioned-loving friends).
- Sugar: Demerara sugar or even granulated sugar works, but we use simple syrup for our cocktails. Make homemade simple syrup with granulated sugar or brown sugar (which is excellent here).
- Bitters: Angostura Bitters are perfect here, or try small-batch bitters (there are so many to experiment with!).
- Orange Peel: Use your vegetable peeler to remove a strip of orange zest, then twist it over the drink, releasing orange oils over the cocktail. Swiping it around the rim is a nice touch, too. You can also warm the orange peel with a lighter (watch our video to see me do it).
- Cherries (optional): Luxardo cherries are exceptional, but if you don’t have them on hand, maraschino cherries are a good stand-in.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make an Old Fashioned Cocktail
Tip 1: Stir the ingredients together. You don’t need to shake this cocktail. Instead, add the bourbon, simple syrup, and Angostura bitters to a lowball glass with a large ice cube, and stir a few times.
Tip 2: Peel the orange over the drink. As you peel citrus, essential oils spritz out. So to capture as much of that aromatic oil as possible, peel the orange over your glass. Then twist the peel or use our flame method shown in the video.
Tip 3: Use large ice cubes. Large ice has a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio, meaning it melts more slowly and prevents your cocktail from becoming diluted. While standard large molds work well, Adam spent some time nerding out on how to make clear ice at home, which looks impressive and melts more slowly.
If you aren’t ready for the DIY method below, simply using a standard large-cube silicone mold is a significant upgrade over typical freezer tray ice.
How to Make DIY Clear Ice Spheres
You don’t need expensive gadgets to make crystal-clear ice at home. Using directional freezing—freezing the water from the top down—pushes air and impurities to the bottom, leaving the sphere perfectly clear. Depending on your local water quality, you may want to use filtered or boiled water for the best results.
- Nest a small plastic container inside an insulated mug. Fill the mug with water until the inner container is submerged.
- Fill your sphere mold with water, plug the opening with your finger, and carefully submerge it upside down in the mug.
- Lower the water level in the mug until it is flush with the top of the small internal container. Place the entire assembly in the freezer until solid.
Adam’s holding our DIY (almost) clear ice ball on the left in the photo above. The one on the right is a regular frozen mold—way cloudier! Even though it wasn’t fully clear, it definitely melted more slowly than regular ice.
More Classic Cocktail Recipes
Perfect Old Fashioned
- PREP
- TOTAL
A classic Old Fashioned cocktail uses bourbon or whiskey, but it’s exceptional with high-quality dark-aged rum or smoky mezcal instead. Watch our video for tips on warming and spritzing the orange peel over the drink.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 ounces bourbon or rye whiskey
1 to 2 teaspoons simple syrup
3 dashes orange bitters, such as Angostura
1 strip orange peel (about 2 inches)
1 or 2 Luxardo or maraschino cherries for garnish (optional)
Directions
1In a rocks glass, combine the simple syrup, bitters, and bourbon. Stir well to incorporate.
2Add 1 or 2 large ice cubes. Using a bar spoon or another long-handled spoon, stir for about 30 seconds until the drink is well chilled.
3Twist the peel over the glass to release its oils, then rub the skin side around the rim of the glass. (For a more aromatic variation, briefly and carefully warm the peel with a flame before twisting, as shown in our video.)
4Drop the peel into the glass and garnish with the cherries, if using.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Rum Old Fashioned: Adam loves using aged dark rum instead of the bourbon. You may need to reduce the simple sugar slightly, as rum tends to taste sweeter.
- Use plain white sugar or brown sugar in this simple syrup recipe. I love brown sugar simple syrup. If you make a batch of simple syrup, you can store it in the fridge for up to 1 month.
- Some prefer a splash of soda or still water. We recommend tasting the cocktail after stirring it with ice first. Then, go from there.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Awesome
Excellent. I use the Orange Angostura bitters, which goes well with the orange slice – even 5 drops. Also have a smoker at home which makes it even better.
Recipe was spot on and we use Widow Jane, Decadence Bourbon in our Old Fashioned ‘s. A wonderful sip as we enjoy the fireplace.
Excellent recipe! Try using Zacappa rum from Guatemala…it’s a dark rum that’s been aged at a high altitude to slow the aging process…very tasty!
It was definitely informative. Your website is very helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Great recipe. I had some friends over that weren’t whiskey drinkers, so I used Elijah Craig and added a bit of sugar free 7-up to lighten it. They loved it!
Great recipe! Agree with Bulleit and Woodford Reserve as excellent bourbons. Our personal faves are Weller Special Reserve and Buffalo Trace, but they can be hard to find, so stock up when you do! Definitely flame the orange peel and rub on the rim when possible, serve in a glencairn or tapered glass to experience the full aroma and flavor profile, and add a Luxardo cherry or two – perfection!
We are thrilled you enjoyed it, Ashley!
We have made this a few times now and I’m curious how thick your syrup is when chilled? Thick or runny? Ours seems thin and I’m wondering if that’s right. We added a bit more syrup to ours but this is phenomenal. We have tried for years to get a good OF recipe that was consistent and rich. this is hands down the best OF we’ve had. Soooo good.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Our syrup is pretty thin when chilled. That is very normal.
Muddle a slice of orange with Bourbon infused cherry and Angostura bitters, add Bourbon and ice, then a splash of sparkling water. Stir. Yum.
Served at holiday gathering, so easy to mix up and great balance in cocktail. Used brown sugar for the simple syrup,great addition!
Everything is very open with a very clear explanation of the issues. It was definitely informative. Your website is very helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Can I premake a whole bottle of old fashions?
Yes.
The best recipe – I don’t use water and I middle the orange peel with the simple syrup & bitters to extract the orange oils.
Yes, no water necessary. Water will come from ice mellt.
If you want Crystal clear ice. You can boil it before freezing and this will produce ice with no haze.
Thank you for not only a comprehensive tour of the old-fashioned recipe but also your derivations with Rum and other whiskeys. I particularly liked the flaming orange peel( Something I now use at my parties along with sabering champagne bottles !!). I started using Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Port Barrel Finish as my ingredients. I learned about this at my local bar in NYC in the building I live in ( Ascent bar at 25 Columbus Circle). My neighbor is Micheal Keaton and he loves the drink !!
We just attended a wedding where one of the featured drinks was an Old Fashioned. Home from the celebration, we had to make them ourselves. We didn’t have an orange on hand for peel so I added one bar spoon of orange juice. We are enjoying them. Thanks for the recipe and all f the tips.
My favourite drink and what a great guide – especially the ice tips! Thanks!
This recipe would never fly in Wisconsin, where the Old Fashioned is practically the state drink. Brandy is the norm/favorite and muddling is optional, with a sweet soda like Sprite used as a topper (No need for simple syrup). Bitters is the key, with more than a couple of drops, to be sure…more like a couple of shakes. Garnish with half an orange slice and maraschino cherry. Serve over ice, and the glass is full. Whiskey and brandy are the only options.
I was thinking the same thing 😉
My new favorite drink. I hate whiskey or bourbon put the key is ice. I increased the simply syrup to my taste but found the secret is the ice. If you let it sit about 10 minutes it’s perfect and will become your favorite drink too. I also recommend ice balls (you can buy the molds online) so the ice melts slower:
Your the man
I have tried to “wing it” for months, but using this actual recipe helped so much. Tastes just like an old fashioned from a good craft bar. Great tip to leave out the extra water. I add a Filthy black cherry to mine. I’m gonna go grow a beard now.
George Dickel Barrel Select makes a great Old Fashioned!
Instead of the simple syrup, which is fine, I use pure maple syrup. Had at a “cocktail lounge” adds a new flavor and not over powering.
If you use hot water to make ice cubes, you get crystal clear ones. Heating the water sends off the extra air floating around in it. Sounds crazy but works great!
Boiled water is the key to crystal clear ice
I’m going to try this hot-water method. It sounds scientifically plausible. Thanks for the tip!
Delicious! Fun with the ice, too. 🙂
I’m going to make my simple syrup using muscavado sugar. Had it in a $14.00 Old Fashion the other day and it was delicious.Thanks for your tips. Like the orange peel idea. Grapefruit works too.
You could always boil the water to make the ice cubes clear.
Hi Jennifer, We did try to boil the water but this didn’t seem to work all the time for us. We found that the directional freezing method, aka “mug method”, worked pretty consistently.
Thank you for the ideas and recipe. I enjoyed reading your dissertation out of all the others when I Googled it. I just started drinking bourbon and this is the only way I can drink it. Never been a brown liquor drinker. I am kind of in love with this drink now.
I’ve never made an old fashioned before so thanks for giving me the inspiration to make this recipe!