Improved Whiskey Cocktail
An Improved Whiskey Cocktail is 60ml of rye whiskey with 5ml of maraschino liqueur, 2.5ml of absinthe, 10ml of demerara syrup and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, with lemon peel expressed and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. Jerry Thomas printed an Improved Whiskey Cocktail in his 1876 bar guide: the plain whiskey cocktail of spirit, sugar and bitters, with dashes of maraschino and absinthe added. Customers who preferred the unadorned drink reportedly began to ask for it old-fashioned style, which is probably where the Old Fashioned found its name. The additions are small on purpose. Each should sit behind the rye, never in front of it.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
60ml
Rye at 40% ABV or a little more. Its dry pepper stops the sweet, perfumed modifiers piling up. Thomas allowed whiskey, bourbon or rye, and bourbon makes a rounder drink.
5ml
Around 32% ABV. It adds a cherry-stone and bitter almond note that reads as depth rather than fruit.
2.5ml
Half a teaspoon, stirred through rather than used as a rinse. A full bar spoon buries everything else in anise.
10ml
Demerara sugar dissolved in half its weight of water. Its toffee weight carries the two modifiers, where plain syrup leaves the drink thinner. Thomas used gum syrup.
2 dashes
Two dashes. Thomas named Boker’s bitters; Angostura is the usual choice now and gives the drink its clove and bitter edge.
Instructions
Add the rye, maraschino, absinthe, demerara syrup and Angostura to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain over one large cube in a rocks glass.
Express a strip of lemon peel over the surface and drop it in.
Source: Jerry Thomas's Bar-Tender's Guide (Adapted from the 1876 Bar-Tender’s Guide: rye, Angostura for Boker’s bitters, demerara syrup for gum syrup, measures in ml, stirred and served over a large cube where Thomas shakes and strains; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the absinthe. 2.5ml is half a teaspoon, stirred through the drink rather than used as a rinse. A full bar spoon and the whiskey disappears behind anise. Keep all three additions small. 5ml of maraschino, half a teaspoon of absinthe and 10ml of syrup should each sit behind the rye; if you can name one on the first sip, it is too much. Choose demerara syrup over plain. Its toffee note gives the drink enough body to carry two strong modifiers, and white sugar leaves it thin.
Behind the Improved Whiskey Cocktail
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The earliest printed definition of the cocktail, from 1806, lists four things: spirits, sugar, water and bitters. Make exactly that with whiskey and you have the Old Fashioned.
Through the nineteenth century American bars stocked more imported liqueurs: maraschino, absinthe, curaçao. Bartenders added them to the plain cocktail, and Jerry Thomas’s 1876 bar guide prints improved versions for brandy, gin and whiskey, each with dashes of maraschino and absinthe.
The Name It Gave Away
Drinkers who wanted none of the additions had to ask. The story goes that they ordered a whiskey cocktail made the old-fashioned way, meaning plain.
Nobody knows who coined it, but it became the plain drink’s name. Pour the two together and the gap between them is plain from the first mouthful.
What Each Improvement Does
None is a large measure, and each one changes the drink.
Maraschino at 5ml adds a cherry-stone and almond note that reads as depth rather than fruit. At 5ml it adds flavour and only a little sugar.
Absinthe at half a teaspoon runs a herbal, faintly medicinal line through the rye. Stirred in, it joins the drink instead of sitting on the nose.
Demerara syrup gives the drink enough body to carry the other two. With plain syrup the modifiers start to float on top.
Ours Against Thomas
The Improved Whiskey Cocktail in 1876 and as we make it
Whiskey
- Thomas, 1876
- A small wine-glass of whiskey, bourbon or rye
- Ours
- 60ml rye
Sugar
- Thomas, 1876
- Three dashes of gum syrup
- Ours
- 10ml demerara syrup
Maraschino
- Thomas, 1876
- Two dashes
- Ours
- 5ml
Absinthe
- Thomas, 1876
- One dash
- Ours
- 2.5ml
Bitters
- Thomas, 1876
- Two dashes of Boker’s
- Ours
- Two dashes of Angostura
Method
- Thomas, 1876
- Shaken with shaved ice
- Ours
- Stirred 20 to 30 seconds
Served
- Thomas, 1876
- Strained into a cocktail glass
- Ours
- Over one large cube
Lemon
- Thomas, 1876
- A piece of peel
- Ours
- Peel expressed and dropped in
| Element | Thomas, 1876 | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Whiskey | A small wine-glass of whiskey, bourbon or rye | 60ml rye |
| Sugar | Three dashes of gum syrup | 10ml demerara syrup |
| Maraschino | Two dashes | 5ml |
| Absinthe | One dash | 2.5ml |
| Bitters | Two dashes of Boker’s | Two dashes of Angostura |
| Method | Shaken with shaved ice | Stirred 20 to 30 seconds |
| Served | Strained into a cocktail glass | Over one large cube |
| Lemon | A piece of peel | Peel expressed and dropped in |
The ingredients line up. The service changes: stirred and on ice, the drink opens slowly as the cube melts.
Against the Sazerac
The two share most of their parts: rye, sugar, bitters and absinthe. The differences are technique.
A Sazerac rinses the glass with absinthe, so the anise is mostly on the nose. It uses Peychaud’s bitters, has no maraschino and is served without ice.
This one stirs the absinthe through, keeps the Angostura, adds the cherry note and goes over a large cube.
How to Serve It
Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds, strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, lemon peel expressed over the top and dropped in. Serve it beside a plain Old Fashioned if you can.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Rye)Rye whiskey, in American law, takes at least 51% of its grain from rye and its colour from new charred oak, and goes into bottle at a 40% ABV minimum; our recipes take 40% as the figure. Rye makes a drier, spicier, more peppery spirit than corn, which is why stirred classics such as the Manhattan, Vieux Carré and Brooklyn are written for it. It appears in 23 of our recipes.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Improved?
Is this how the Old Fashioned got its name?
What was Jerry Thomas’s recipe?
How does it compare to a Sazerac?
Do I have to use absinthe?
How strong is an Improved Whiskey Cocktail?
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Old Fashioned
An Old Fashioned is 45ml of bourbon, one sugar cube, two dashes of Angostura bitters and a few dashes of water. The sugar and bitters are muddled in a rocks glass until the cube dissolves, then ice goes in, the bourbon goes over it and the drink is stirred for 15 to 20 seconds. Orange peel is expressed over the top. About 1.9 UK units. Those are the IBA’s ingredients, which allow rye in place of bourbon. Only the sugar and bitters are muddled: no orange flesh, no cherry. The recipe predates the name. When a newspaper in Hudson, New York, defined the cocktail in 1806, it described spirits, sugar, water and bitters, a bittered sling. The name came later in the century, as bartenders added liqueurs to the format and drinkers who wanted it plain are said to have asked for one made the old-fashioned way.
Sazerac
A Sazerac is 50ml of cognac stirred with a sugar cube and two dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, then strained, with no ice, into a chilled rocks glass rinsed with absinthe, and finished with lemon peel expressed over the top. The IBA lists those ingredients. About 2.1 UK units. New Orleans more often makes it with rye whiskey. The name comes from Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils, a cognac that Sewell Taylor imported to New Orleans from around 1850. Aaron Bird, who took over Taylor’s Merchants Exchange Coffee House, renamed it the Sazerac Coffee House and served a Sazerac Cocktail on that cognac, reportedly with Antoine Amédée Peychaud’s bitters. Under Thomas Handy, from around 1870, rye took the cognac’s place. The absinthe never goes into the mixing glass. It coats the glass and is poured away, leaving anise on the nose of every sip.
Manhattan
A Manhattan is 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cocktail cherry. Those are the IBA’s measures, five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The most repeated origin story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club in the 1870s, at a banquet given by Lady Randolph Churchill; she was in France at the time, so the story is unlikely. What is established is that the drink was in print by 1884, in guides by O.H. Byron and Charlie Paul. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. Keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026