Make an Old Fashioned, The Old Fashioned Way
The Old Fashioned did not have that name to begin with.

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In fact, The Old Fashioned was the first documented cocktail, but it was at first called, a Whiskey Cocktail.
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Cocktails likely started long before they were documented; but for recreational use, they were first documented in the first years of the 19th century.
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The first cocktail was comprised of 4 components for perfect balance:
1. Spirit
2. Bitters, to add flavor, depth and complexity (to the whiskey)
3. Sugar, for softening the bite of alcohol but also to keep a velvety viscosity
4. Ice, or water, to mellow the intensity of flavor all around!
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The Old Fashioned was dubbed its official name around 1875, when a regular at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, KY wanted a whiskey cocktail the Old Fashioned Way.
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By this time, the whiskey cocktail evolved to adding fruit and other ingredients, which took away from the classic cocktail.
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Now the Old Fashioned has many variations including the Wisconsin Style Old Fashioned: with brandy, soda, lots of bitters and muddled fruit (red maraschino cherry and an orange slice).
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But the version I am sharing with you today is close to the Old Fashioned, the Old-Fashioned Way.

Ingredients Needed:
· 2 oz Whiskey or Aged Brandy, but can be made with any aged spirit.
· 0.5 oz of simple syrup
· 2-3 dashes of Aromatic Bitters
· 1 Orange
· 1 scoop of ice (for mixing)
· 1 large cube or 3 cubes of ice
Tools Needed: (hyperlinks to amazon.com)
· Double Rocks Glass (Old Fashioned Glass)
· y-peeler
Directions:

1. Add 2-3 dashes of bitters to your mixing glass
***The size of the puddle should be about the size of a quarter
2. Add your simple syrup and Spirit to the mixing glass
3. Cover the mixture with ice
4. Stir the cocktail until it is a bit stronger than desired taste
5. Add a large ice cube or 3 smaller ice cubes to the double rocks glass
6. Strain mixture over glass
7. Peel a strip of orange rind and express, rind side down, over top of the glass (for aromatics), and then drop the rind into the glass
8. Imbibe!
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