Old Fashioned

Build this drink in the glass — no mixing glass needed. The key is the ice: use a single large cube if you have one, or a few large chunks. Large ice melts slowly, which means the drink stays cold without becoming watery. Stir gently and let the dilution happen gradually as you drink it.

The Old Fashioned is a whiskey drink — the spirit should be the star. Use rich demerara syrup (2:1 sugar to water) rather than simple syrup; the molasses notes in demerara complement bourbon and rye beautifully. Two dashes of Angostura is the baseline, but adding a dash of orange bitters adds a subtle citrus brightness that lifts the whole drink. Don't muddle fruit — that's a different (lesser) drink.

The Old Fashioned is arguably the original cocktail — the word 'cocktail' was first defined in 1806 as 'a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.' The Old Fashioned is exactly that definition, unchanged. It predates the Martini, the Manhattan, and virtually every other classic cocktail. When someone asks for a cocktail 'the old-fashioned way,' this is what they mean.

Rum Old Fashioned

Swap the whiskey for 2 oz of aged rum — Appleton Estate or Mount Gay Black Barrel work beautifully. The rum's tropical fruit and vanilla notes play wonderfully against the demerara syrup. Use a single dash of Angostura and garnish with an orange twist.

Oaxacan Old Fashioned

Use 1½ oz reposado tequila and ½ oz mezcal in place of the whiskey. Phil Ward's creation from Death & Co — the smokiness of the mezcal and the agave character of the tequila make this one of the great modern classics. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.