Kris my ash.
Festive Old Fashioned.
It has been bothering me for a while that I haven’t talked very much about the Old Fashioned. I mean once you know how to make one, and tweak one, there’s not that much more too say. I hope you don’t get the idea from these pages that the Old Fashioned* isn’t a classic and excellent drink – it is. Pretty much all modern cocktail bars will have a twist on an OF that they give their own name, yet an Old Fashioned it remains and, indeed, I find it an amusing game to try to spot the Old Fashioned-hiding-behind-a-new name on any craft cocktail menu where they typically just name the flavours present. But I digress. The approach of the festive season gives me an opportunity to set things right. Ish. I’m not really a fan of Christmas cocktails so don’t usually bother writing anything special at this time of year but then again I’m aware others might like to try something that fits with the yuletide mood. Given recent events I toyed with calling it the Old Fascist and Mrs Proof laughed but then said a firm “no!”. Fair enough, it doesn’t sound very festive after all. In the end I just called it what it is since I disapprove of renaming barely changed classics anyway. The Festive Old Fashioned is a nice way to Xmasify your favourite brown spirit and I find it works equally well with all sorts of whisky or a decent aged rum or cognac. The bridge rums we looked at last month are excellent choices here. For the small sugar component we use ginger syrup which, if you are a Tiki-head like me you will have already made** and stored but you could also just buy some. We’ll want some cinnamon flavour too and for this I make a cinnamon tincture which is simply 2 sticks of cinnamon (I like to use 1 of each type – cassia and Ceylon) broken up and soaked in 50% vodka for 2 days then strained through a coffee filter. It’s also a nice addition to Tiki drinks so you’re not making it just for this***. Orange bitters complete the festive flavour selection box so-to-speak. Then we just give it the Old Fashioned treatment by stirring it all with ice and straining it over a nice big block (or ball) of clear ice. The garnish of grated nutmeg is the icing on the cake but go easy on it lest overpower the drink. Sip slowly to get yo ass into the festive vibe.
See you all next year!
Festive Old Fashioned.
2oz / 60ml aged spirit of choice (whisky, rum, cognac etc.)
1 teaspoon / 5ml ginger syrup (or a touch more if you like).
4 dashes cinnamon tincture
2 dashes orange bitters
Stir with ice and strain over a big block or sphere of clear ice and grate a little nutmeg over the top.
Toast 2025.
*Sometimes it is called an Old Fashion without the “ed” but that is just plain wrong and really grinds my gears. So please don’t.
**70g root ginger peeled and sliced, in a blender with 200g of sugar and 200ml of very hot water. Pulse blend about 20 times then leave for and hour. Strain through a fine sieve pushing down gently on the pulp. Bottle and refrigerate. Keeps for a few weeks if the bottle is sterilised.
***For example when cinnamon syrup is called for I just use simple syrup and 5 dashes of my cinnamon tincture.
