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.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Orange peel
Ingredients
45ml
Bourbon at 40% ABV or slightly stronger. Its vanilla and caramel make a rounder drink; rye, which the IBA allows, makes a drier, spicier one where the bitters show more.
1 cube
White or demerara. Soaked in the bitters and muddled with water until no grains remain; an undissolved cube leaves the bottom of the glass sweeter than the top.
2 dashes
Two dashes, at 44.7% ABV, onto the cube before muddling. The IBA says a few; beyond two, the bitters start fighting the bourbon instead of seasoning it.
Few dashes
A few dashes on the soaked cube. It starts the sugar dissolving before the bourbon arrives, which a cube needs in a drink this cold and short.
Instructions
Place the sugar cube in a rocks glass and soak it with two dashes of Angostura bitters.
Add a few dashes of water and muddle until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Add one large ice cube, or fill the glass with large cubes.
Pour in the bourbon.
Stir for 15 to 20 seconds, until cold and lightly diluted.
Express a wide strip of orange peel over the drink and rest it on the rim or drop it in.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA ingredients, with two dashes for the IBA’s few and no cherry; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Dissolve the sugar before any whiskey goes in. Soak the cube in the bitters, add a few dashes of water and muddle until no grains are left. Cold bourbon will not finish the job, and an undissolved cube leaves the last mouthfuls syrupy. Two dashes of Angostura is the measure. The IBA says a few; past two, the bitters stop seasoning the bourbon and start competing with it. Use one large cube, or large cubes filling the glass. The drink is sipped slowly, and small ice keeps melting until the bottom third tastes of water. Stir for 15 to 20 seconds, then express the orange peel so its oil lands on the surface before the first sip.
Behind the Old Fashioned
Flavour Profile
The Origin
On 13 May 1806 the Balance and Columbian Repository, a newspaper in Hudson, New York, answered a reader’s question about the word cocktail. It called it a stimulating liquor of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters, vulgarly called a bittered sling.
That is an Old Fashioned in all but name. The name came later in the century. As bartenders added curaçao, absinthe and other liqueurs to the basic cocktail, drinkers who wanted the plain version are said to have asked for it the old-fashioned way. Who first used the phrase is not recorded.
The Sugar Question
The cube is the IBA’s form. Soaked in bitters, wetted with a few dashes of water and muddled, it dissolves into a thin, aromatic syrup at the bottom of the glass before any whiskey arrives. Sugar syrup skips that step and dissolves at once, which is why many bars use it.
Both make a sound drink. What does not work is a cube left half dissolved: cold bourbon will not finish the job, so the grains sit at the bottom and the last mouthfuls turn sweet.
What Each Part Does
Old Fashioned: what each ingredient does
Bourbon or rye
- Measure
- 45ml
- Its job
- The body and nearly all the flavour
Sugar cube
- Measure
- One
- Its job
- Rounds the spirit and carries the bitters
Angostura bitters
- Measure
- Two dashes
- Its job
- Clove, bitter herbs and a dry finish
Water
- Measure
- A few dashes
- Its job
- Starts the sugar dissolving
Orange peel
- Measure
- One wide strip
- Its job
- Oil on the surface, aroma before the first sip
| Ingredient | Measure | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| Bourbon or rye | 45ml | The body and nearly all the flavour |
| Sugar cube | One | Rounds the spirit and carries the bitters |
| Angostura bitters | Two dashes | Clove, bitter herbs and a dry finish |
| Water | A few dashes | Starts the sugar dissolving |
| Orange peel | One wide strip | Oil on the surface, aroma before the first sip |
Bitters as Seasoning
Two dashes of Angostura tie the bourbon to the sugar and add clove and bitter herbs that neither has alone. Past two dashes the gentian bitterness starts to compete with the whiskey, and the drink loses its clarity.
The Fruit Question
Muddled orange and cherry became common in American bars in the twentieth century and are still standard in parts of the Midwest, Wisconsin especially. They make a sweeter, juicier drink, closer to a punch.
Here only the sugar and bitters are muddled. The orange arrives as peel, twisted over the surface so its oil sits on top, and no juice goes in. The IBA garnish adds a cocktail cherry; leave it off and the finish stays dry.
How to Serve It
Built in a rocks glass over one large cube or large cubes, stirred for 15 to 20 seconds, with orange peel expressed over the top and rested on the rim. It is a slow drink, and large ice keeps the dilution in step with the pace.
For the same sugar-and-bitters build on cognac, with Peychaud’s bitters and an absinthe rinse, try the Sazerac.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Bourbon)Bourbon is an American whiskey whose mash is at least 51% corn, matured in fresh charred oak barrels and bottled at 40% ABV or higher, the figure our recipes use. The fresh charred wood gives it its vanilla, caramel and colour, and the corn gives a rounder, sweeter spirit than rye. It is the base of 26 of our recipes, more than any other whiskey.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Old Fashioned?
Where does the name come from?
Sugar cube or sugar syrup?
Should I muddle orange and cherry into it?
Bourbon or rye?
How strong is an Old Fashioned?
What ice should I use?
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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.
Boulevardier
A Boulevardier is 45ml bourbon, 30ml Campari and 30ml sweet vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with orange peel. It is the bourbon Negroni: the same Campari and vermouth with bourbon in place of gin, and that one change makes it warmer and rounder. About 3.0 UK units. It first appeared in print in Barflies and Cocktails, published in Paris in 1927, where Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar credited it to Erskine Gwynne, an American writer who ran a monthly magazine called Boulevardier. The 1927 recipe was equal parts. The measures here are the IBA’s, with the bourbon ahead of the other two. Equal parts works well with a lighter vermouth. Against a rich one such as Carpano Antica Formula, the extra 15ml of bourbon keeps the drink from turning heavy.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026