Old Fashioned Recipe: How to Make the Classic Whiskey Cocktail

An Old Fashioned is whiskey, a little sugar, a few dashes of bitters and a splash of water, stirred over ice in a short glass. It's one of the oldest cocktails still ordered today, and it's one of the easiest to make well at home.

Here's the classic recipe, plus the small choices that change the drink a lot.

Old Fashioned Recipe

Ingredients (1 drink)

45 ml (1½ oz) bourbon or rye whiskey
1 sugar cube (or 5 ml / 1 tsp rich simple syrup)
2 to 3 dashes Angostura bitters
A few dashes of plain water
Orange peel, for garnish
Ice, ideally one large cube

Method

Put the sugar cube in a rocks glass.
Soak it with the bitters and add a few dashes of water.
Muddle (press and crush) until the sugar dissolves.
Add ice and pour in the whiskey.
Stir gently for 20 to 30 seconds.
Squeeze an orange peel over the glass so its oils spray on top, then drop it in.

Sugar Cube or Syrup?

The sugar cube is the traditional way. It looks great and the ritual is part of the fun. The downside: sugar doesn't fully dissolve in cold whiskey, so you can end up with grit at the bottom.

Syrup is the modern bar method. It mixes in instantly and gives you the same result every time. Use 5 ml of 2:1 rich simple syrup in place of the cube and water, then stir everything over ice.

Both make a great drink. If you're making several, use syrup.

Bourbon or Rye?

Bourbon gives a softer, rounder drink with vanilla and caramel notes. Most people start here.
Rye gives a drier, spicier drink. Many classic bars prefer it.

Pick a whiskey you'd happily drink neat. The Old Fashioned hides nothing, so a rough whiskey stays rough. A bottle around 45% ABV holds up well to the dilution.

5 Tips for a Better Old Fashioned

Use one big ice cube. It melts slowly, so your drink gets cold without getting watery.
Stir, don't shake. Shaking clouds the drink and adds too much water. Read why in shaken vs stirred.
Express the orange peel. Most of the aroma comes from the peel oil. Skip this and the drink tastes flat.
Go easy on the sugar. The Old Fashioned should taste of whiskey, not sweetness.
Skip the muddled fruit. Mashed cherries and orange slices were a mid-century add-on. They're fine if you like them, but they're not the classic.

Easy Variations

Rye Old Fashioned. Same recipe with rye whiskey. Spicier and drier.

Maple Old Fashioned. Use 5 ml maple syrup in place of the sugar. Great in autumn.

Rum or tequila Old Fashioned. Swap the whiskey for aged rum or reposado tequila. Agave syrup works well with tequila.

Sazerac. The Old Fashioned's New Orleans cousin, made with cognac or rye, Peychaud's bitters and an absinthe rinse. See the Sazerac recipe.

A Short History

In the early 1800s, a "cocktail" meant one thing: spirit, sugar, water and bitters. As bartenders added new liqueurs and fancy extras later in the century, some drinkers started asking for their whiskey cocktail the "old-fashioned" way. The name stuck. So in a real sense, the Old Fashioned is the original cocktail.

Old Fashioned FAQ

What does an Old Fashioned taste like? Strong, rich and lightly sweet, with warm spice from the bitters and a fresh orange smell. It's a whiskey drink first.

What glass is used for an Old Fashioned? A short, heavy rocks glass, also called an old fashioned glass. See our guide to types of cocktail glasses.

Is an Old Fashioned strong? Yes. It's almost all whiskey, so it has about as much alcohol as a large pour of neat whiskey, softened a bit by ice.

Can I make an Old Fashioned without bitters? You can, but it won't taste like an Old Fashioned. Bitters add the spice and depth that hold the drink together.