

> I've gone into a couple of different bars now and ordered an
> old-fashioned. Each time I get the same two questions: "Brandy or
> Whiskey? Sweet or Sour?"...
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Traditionally, an "Old Fashioned" should be always made with American Rye, or
Bourbon whiskey. Although I understand that in some parts of the country
"Brandy" is apparently a common base spirit.
To look closer at this concept, let's examine what an "Old Fashioned" really
is... as the story goes, it refers to some civil war vet going into the
Pendeniss club in Louisville KT, and asking for drink, but mentioning that
they didn't care much for whiskey... the bartender mixed up a drink with
bitters, water, sugar, and whiskey, which the vet loved, and when he asked
what the drink was, was told "An Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail".
So as an "origin" story, this drink should alway use whiskey.
However, what probably really happened, was that the bartender made the vet a
drink using the "old fashioned" method, which simply means following the
formula for a "cocktail" as it was first described in 1806: "spirits of any
kind, sugar, water and bitters".
So "Technically", and old fashioned can be ordered with any spirit in mind.
Just as you can order a "Vodka Martini", you can order a "Brandy Old
Fashioned"... although if you order a "Martini" you should get a "Gin
Martini", and if you order an "Old Fashioned" you should get a "Whiskey Old
Fashioned".
Now, as to the sweet/sour... this is where (I feel) we start moving into
bartenders who really don't understand this drink. An real Old Fashioned has
zero sour ingredients associated with it. It can be made with a slice of
orange that is mildly muddled. And it can also be made with a "garnish" of
lemon wedge. But at no time is that lemon wedge incorporated into the drink by
the bartender. It is a garnish. And if the customer "chooses" to squeeze the
lemon wedge into the drink, that is there business.
-Robert Hess
www.DrinkBoy.com
www.MuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org
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