New Twists on the Old-Fashioned

All but forgotten by the 1970s, the old-fashioned has now returned to its proper place as a cocktail menu fixture. Far from a rigid prescription, the drink is more of a flexible formula—spirit plus sugar plus bitters—and each component can be adjusted to suit the maker’s taste and creativity.

If you stick with whiskey (either bourbon or rye), some form of cane sugar or simple syrup for the sweetener, and a few dashes of aromatic bitters, you’ll stay within the bounds of the original pattern—an old-fashioned old-fashioned. (See these two versions for classic examples.)

That core framework, though, is eminently adaptable, with each component offering fertile ground for experimentation. Take the bitter element. For decades, the classic paper-wrapped bottle of Angostura was the only bitters to be found behind an American bar, but these days dozens of brands offer a spectrum of flavors, from orange to chocolate to habanero. You can go even further afield and use amaro or other herbal liqueurs to provide that key bitter note.

Instead of white sugar or simple syrup, demerara cubes or that old Southern favorite, sorghum syrup, can provide sweetness along with intriguing dark flavors, too. You don’t even have to stick with whiskey, as the format works well with all sorts of spirits. Just don’t go crazy and start muddling in orange slices and assorted fruit, much less finishing things off with spritzes of lemon-lime soda. That’s the territory of the Wisconsin brandy old-fashioned, an entirely different cocktail species (and one I’ll admit I do enjoy on occasion).

A proper old-fashioned is a stiff drink. It should enhance the spirit’s flavor rather than mask it beneath gobs of sugar and blasts of citrusy fizz. Start with a good base spirit, keep the sugar and bitter elements in check, and you’ll have a fine cocktail to sip and savor.

These three variations stay true to the old-fashioned fundamentals while showcasing a few ways creative Southern bartenders are adding their own flavorful twists.

Scroll down for the three recipes.

Robert F. Moss writes about food, drink, and travel. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, he is the author of six books on food and beverages, including Southern Spirits: Four Hundred Years of Drinking in the American South (2016) and The Roffignac (2024). He’s one of the O8s (original members) of the Charleston Brown Water Society.

New Fashioned

Yield: 1 cocktail

Incorporating amaro is a promising route for a clever old-fashioned variation and can add both bitter and sweet notes, as in Lola Rose’s New Fashioned. For this cocktail, chef/owner Kevin Johnson turned to the locally produced Southern Amaro from Charleston’s High Wire Distilling Co., which incorporates regionally grown black tea, wild mint, and Dancy tangerine, complementing the drink with dashes of orange bitters.

“I created it as a way to highlight the amaro,” Johnson says. “I enjoy that it has a little less sweetness, some subtle herbal components, and a bit of depth from the slight bitterness that creates a balanced cocktail.”

Ingredients

- 2 oz. bourbon
- 1 oz. High Wire Southern Amaro
- 5 dashes Angostura orange bitters
- Orange peel, for garnish

Preparation

Add bourbon, amaro, and bitters to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir vigorously for about 20 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube. To garnish, express the orange peel, rub it around the rim of the glass, and drop it into the drink.

Figaro, Figaro

Yield: 1 cocktail

This operatic creation from Tyler Smith, the bar manager at the Italian-inspired Bottega in Birmingham, Alabama, ups the bitter element with a dose of Cardamaro, an amber-hued Italian amaro made with the artichoke-like vegetable cardoon. The bitter bite is balanced by the earthy sweetness of a rum-laced fig cordial, an excellent example of getting creative with the sweet side of the formula.

For the cocktail

- 1½ oz. Larceny Small Batch bourbon
- ¾ oz. Cardamaro
- ½ oz. fig cordial (recipe follows)
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- Fig slice, for garnish

For the fig cordial

- 8 oz. figs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup Planteray Original Dark rum
- ⅓ cup Cocchi Torino vermouth

Preparation

Make the fig cordial: Mash the figs with the sugar in a large mixing bowl and let sit for 1 hour. Add rum and vermouth. Allow to steep overnight at room temperature, then strain out the solids and bottle the cordial. Refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.
Make the cocktail: Add bourbon, Cardamaro, fig cordial, and bitters to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over a large ice cube. To garnish, place a single slice of fig atop the cube.

Brain Tonic

Yield: 1 cocktail

Other brown liquors such as aged rum or reposado tequila are the most common substitutes for whiskey in old-fashioned variations, but the bitter and sweet notes can play nicely with unaged spirits, too.

That was the path taken by Emma Morris, the beverage manager at Broad Street BBQ in Atlanta, when she created the Brain Tonic, which is based on a blend of white rum and the more vegetal rhum agricole instead of whiskey. In a fitting local touch, she stirs in an orange peel–infused syrup made with Atlanta’s hometown soft drink, Coca-Cola, which plays the role of both sugar and bitters, adding bitter orange oils and an array of fragrant spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Note: At Broad Street BBQ, Morris adds vanilla notes by infusing the rum and rhum agricole with fresh pandan, the blade-shaped green leaves used in Vietnamese cuisine, but the recipe works quite well with uninfused rum, too, as adapted here. Or use 2 ounces of good bourbon in place of rum for a serious upgrade to the classic bourbon and Coke.

For the cocktail

- 1 oz. white rum
- 1 oz. rhum agricole
- ½ oz. Coca-Cola citrus syrup (recipe follows)
- Orange peel, for garnish

For the Coca-Cola citrus syrup

- 2 cans Coca-Cola
- 100 grams orange peels (about 4 medium-sized oranges)
- 100 grams brown sugar (about ½ cup)

Preparation

Make the Coca-Cola citrus syrup: Add the Coca-Cola to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Allow liquid to reduce until it forms a thick syrup. It’s ready when it passes the “trail test,” when a spoon run through the mixture will briefly leave a trail on the bottom of the pan. Allow to cool, then refrigerate in a sealable container.
In a bowl, combine orange peels and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly until a small amount of liquid begins to appear. Put in an airtight container and rest at room temperature for 36 hours. Strain the resulting liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, pushing gently to aid in extraction. Discard the peels and combine the extracted liquid and the Coca-Cola syrup in a sealable container, stirring to mix. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 weeks.
Make the cocktail: Add the rum, rhum agricole, and Coca-Cola citrus syrup to a mixing glass with ice. Stir well, then strain into an old-fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with a strip of orange peel.

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