Post your favorites or discuss techniques here. Got 10 versions of the Old Fashioned you'd like to post?! Go right ahead.

Here's some good basics to remember...

Most cocktails use some variation of the 2:1:1 ratio (2 parts strong, 1 part sweet, 1 part sour).

Another... the "Golden" cocktail ratio is 3:2:1 (3 parts spirit, 2 parts liqueur, 1 part citrus).

Shaken vs. Stirred? Generally a spirit forward cocktail could be stirred as to not over dilute the spirit (think Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sazerac, etc.)

Like a little cherry kick to your manhattan do ya?! Try this:

https://pin.it/w5hfjsedaioddj

2 ounces Maker's 46
0.5 ounces Sweet Vermouth
0.5 ounces Cherry Heering
2 dashes The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters
Cocktail cherries

Stir the above and garnish with the cherry.

What's your Top 5 Cocktails? Mine are:

1) Satan's Circus
2) The Clover Club
3) Pistols at Dawn
4) The French Blonde
5) Mexican Martini/Margarita

In no particular order (depends on the night and what part of the night):

Bee's Knees
I've seen this done a couple different ways. I found my preferred recipe at Brixology in Vintage Park.
2 oz. gin (I usually use a dry gin)
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. honey syrup
Shaken with ice and served in a cocktail glass

Laddie Daddie (found at the same place)
2 oz. Botanist dry gin
1/2 oz. St. Germaine
2 dashes Bitterman's Boston Bittahs
Served in a lowball on the rocks.

Manhattan

Martini (boring choice, but a favorite)

Rye Old Fashioned

DVC2010 said:

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Bee's Knees
I've seen this done a couple different ways. I found my preferred recipe at Brixology in Vintage Park.
2 oz. gin (I usually use a dry gin)
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. honey syrup
Shaken with ice and served in a cocktail glass

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Add .5 oz Ancho Reyes to it and it's a Bee Sting! And good call on the Rye Old Fashioned.

Loving this new thread. Lots that we'll be trying!

We had an Old Fashioned at at Lebanese restaurant that was really, really good. We tried to watch it being made - there are no seats at the bar - and got pretty close at home.

2 oz Bourbon (we liked E H Taylor Single Barrel until it got hard to get - now using Eagle Rare)
1 oz Honey Syrup (1:1 ish)
Dash each of Black Walnut Bitters & Angostura
Orange peel squeeze/twist over & then wiped on rim, dropped in
Garnish with a lightly crushed sprig of oregano

Love a good Pisco Sour, too. Tommy's Margarita is simple and delicious.

One thing we do is juice lemons & limes and freeze them in small cubes - easy to use & always available.

I like a black manhattan over the original, mainly because I prefer amaro to vermouth, and amaro keeps longer.

I do more highballs during the week mainly because that last thing I want to do when I get home from work is gather 5-6 ingredients to make a drink. That said, here are my spring and summer go-to drinks.

Gin & Tonic
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 1.5 ounce Ford's gin, and squeeze a lime wedge. Top with Fever Tree tonic (it's worth the price, and it's less sweet).

Moscow Mule
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 2 ounces of vodka. Squeeze in half a lime, and drop in the spent lime shell. Top with ginger beer (use something good like Maine Root).

Ranch Water
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 1 ounce blanco tequila (I use El Jimador, but anything that comes in a glass bottle is fine). Squeeze in a lime wedge, and top with Topo Chico. This results in about a 6:1 water:tequila ratio, which is perfect for day drinking. Cut it in half if you want to get your party on.

I don't know what this one is called, but it's a great brunch cocktail. Pour 1 ounce St. Germain into a champagne flute. Top with rose sparkling wine.

I love a good well made drink, however I won't be preparing them very often at home. At the house here is what I make all 1:1 ratios

vodka/club soda
vodka/sparkling water of some kind
gin/diet tonic water

lime may be applied to all above, but not necessary

At a steakhouse or nicer place out and about I usually roll with an old fashioned

I enjoy whiskey, but I'd rather drink it straight than make a cocktail with one at home.

1 part gin
1 part Giffards passion fruit liqueur
.5 part lemon juice
Cherry bitters
Lemon grass simple syrup

Fill a high ball with ice then top with tonic

Great thread

I enjoy watching YouTube videos from Bonneville Cocktails, Steve the Bartender & Educated Barfly.

Favorite cocktails right now are Gin Basil Smash and Last Word.

HTownAg98 said:

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Ranch Water
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 1 ounce blanco tequila (I use El Jimador, but anything that comes in a glass bottle is fine). Squeeze in a lime wedge, and top with Topo Chico. This results in about a 6:1 water:tequila ratio, which is perfect for day drinking. Cut it in half if you want to get your party on.

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I do a slight variation and call it South Texas Well Water

Instead of tequila I'll use Mezcal and garnish with a slice of fresh jalapeno and a sprig of cilantro.

aggielax48 said:

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Great thread

I enjoy watching YouTube videos from Bonneville Cocktails, Steve the Bartender & Educated Barfly.

Favorite cocktails right now are Gin Basil Smash and Last Word.

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Good...no GREAT call! Absolutely love the Bonneville Cocktail Collection!!!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbyMfA1HJzS48Fc6-QVYJkA

Have watched pretty much all of them! Love the way he does them. Refined but not over complicated cocktails. The videos are well done also.

Also love "How to Drink":
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCioZY1p0bZ4Xt-yodw8_cBQ
He does some cool techniques but I laugh my ass off at some of his monologue comedy.

Shake: a New Perspective on Cocktails, is an excellent cocktail book. It's built on using seasonal ingredients and is written by two Brooklyn hipsters, but it's not as pretentious as you'd think it would be. The liquors you need are easily found, and relies heavily on using fresh fruits and citrus. The recipes are easy to batch, which is especially convenient if you don't want to get stuck making drinks for everyone. It's worth seeking out.

At home I typically do variations of a mule - typically bourbon, rum, or vodka. In the summer I'm partial to Deep Eddy peach and around Christmas time I like Deep Eddy cranberry. My absolute favorite ginger beer is from the Great Jamaican Ginger Beer Company.

When I'm out I prefer a Pisco sour, whiskey sour, or Manhattan.

bushytailed said:

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At home I typically do variations of a mule - typically bourbon, rum, or vodka. In the summer I'm partial to Deep Eddy peach and around Christmas time I like Deep Eddy cranberry. My absolute favorite ginger beer is from the Great Jamaican Ginger Beer Company.

When I'm out I prefer a Pisco sour, whiskey sour, or Manhattan.

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Check out Culinary Dropout's (one of my favorite restaurant cocktail menus) Copper-less Mules Cocktails.
https://frc-culinarydropout.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/29073457/CulinaryDropout_Austin_11292018_WEB.pdf
Their "Pistols at Dawn" is one of my Top 5 cocktails! If you don't want to make a ginger agave syrup (you may if you love Mules) you can muddle about a 1/4" ginger slice into your spirit...in this case bourbon. Here's a close approximation of Pistols at Dawn:
1 oz Bulleit
1 oz Ancho Reyes
.75 ginger agave syrup
1 oz lemon juice
Cabernet sauvignon splash over the top (~1 oz or so)

Rye old fashioned or a Paloma.

Everyone has their take on Old Fashioned here's mine

1.5 oz Rye of your liking
1 tsp honey
4 dashes orange bitters
4 dashes bitters
Orange peel if desired twisted into the glass and rubbed on the rim
1 large chunk of ice

Paloma

2 oz silver tequila
1/2 lime juice
3 oz grapefruit juice
3 oz selzer, club soda or topo chico
pinch salt
Mix tequila, lime, salt in a highball, add ice, top with grapefruit juice and soda, stir gently.

Oh, fantastic question.

1. Xoacan Antigua at Treaty House in Fredricksburg
2. Vieux Carre
3. Old Fashioned
4. Rum and cola for when I'm chillin' pool-side.
5. Something I've never tried before.

Manhattan
Old Fashioned
Martini
Vesper
G&T
Brown liquor (from various locals) with an ice cube.

that is my normal rotation.

My summer drink is Dark Rum (not the spiced **** - think Zacapa or Flor de Cana), Tonic water and lime. Freaking great drink.

Also got into Negronis and Boulevardier's recently.

Not much love for rum so far...

Mai Tai
1 oz lime juice
1/2 oz orange Curaao
1/4 oz orgeat syrup
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 oz dark rum

Shake and pour over crushed ice

Yep. That's pretty close to the original recipe. I believe the original Trader Vic's recipe had 2 separate rums... neither of which I've ever personally seen on the shelf. I'm getting more into Tiki cocktails. I know I keep bringing up Culinary Dropout (only cuz I love 'em and their cocktails are bomb) but they have a Tiki style one I love called Ships in the Night. I make my riff of it with equal parts white rum, gin and cognac. That combo sounds crazy but I assure you it works!

Old Fashioned
Whiskey Smash
Mint Julep

See a trend?

Alcohol?

austinag1997 said:

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Old Fashioned
Whiskey Smash
Mint Julep

See a trend?

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Take it to the bourbon board!!!

Old Fashioned:
3 oz. 100 proof bourbon
3 dashes Angastura Bitters
2 Luxardo cherries, with a little of the syrup
Orange peel with 3- 4 cloves stuck through it

Lazy Old Fashioned:
Same as above, but substitude a splash of Grand Marnier for the orange peel.

Manhattan:
4 parts 100 proof rye
1 part dolin rouge
3-5 dashes Angastura Bitters

His and Hers Margarita.

His:
2 parts Blanco Tequila
1 part Orange Liqueur
1 part lime juice
1/2 packet sweet n low

Hers:
1 parts Blanco Tequila
1 part Orange Liqueur
1 part lime juice
1 part orange juice
1/2 packet sweet n low

Shake well with crushed ice.

I believe I make the best margarita. Period. But it takes time.

Fist you have to make the juice - Juice 10 limes, 1 lemon, 1 small orange, along with 2 oz of agave nectar. Mix well.

3 oz Altos Reposado (or better, but this is great, affordable margarita tequila)
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz Brandy or Cognac
4 oz of the mix.

Shake vigorously in shaker with ice, and pour over ice. No salt. Makes 2 damn fine margaritas.

I'm lazy when it comes to Rita's. I typically opt to use Simply Limeade because I get equal to better results than homemade so the extra efforts not really worth it. I do add fresh squeezed OJ tho. Good call on the brandy. That's an ingredient many overlook that they shouldn't. Gives it those fruity/grapey notes that your brain may not consciously recognize but your palate will appreciate.

We've been digging this version of a Gin Basil Smash with cucumber. Perfect spring drink and will likely be enjoying these by the pool in a few short weeks.

2 slices of cucumber, chopped
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 basil leaves
2 mint leaves
1 tsp agave nectar or simple syrup
1 1/2 oz gin
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
ice cubes

In a cocktail shaker, muddle cucumber, basil, mint, and agave/syrup. Add ice and gin and mix well.

Pour into highball glass over ice, mix in tonic or topo chico. Garnish with lime wedge and fresh basil/mint.

Definitely trying this soon.