Old Fashioned Cocktail - Coffee Edition
The Balance and Columbian Repository of 1806 defines a cocktail as “a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.” By this definition, the Old Fashioned is as classic as any cocktail gets. Known simply as a Whiskey Cocktail since the 1800’s, fashioning this cocktail is simple: combine sugar, a splash of water, a couple dashes of bitters, and a couple ounces of whiskey. It’s simple, it’s sweet, and it has stood the test of time.
I’ve been posting about coffee-adjacent beverages all week, starting with a tea-like drink called cascara and then a viral sensation called Whipped Coffee. I’m not going to try and revolutionize one of history’s most beloved cocktails, but I do want to infuse a little bit of caffeine into it.
The Old Fashioned is one of my personal after hour favourites, so I’m not altering it just because I feel like it. I think introducing coffee to this drink will not only accentuate the existing ingredients, but also adds a little something that may be missing.
A simple Google search for “coffee cocktails” will yield some less than impressive results. Lots of foam, whipped cream, and Baileys. For this cocktail I wanted to do something a little more elegant and certainly creative. So I hand crafted coffee ice.
You read that right, coffee ice. And it wasn’t that hard!
Here’s how I did it
I hopped onto everyone’s favourite superstore and bought these cocktail cub molds from Amazon. I’ve been making cocktail ice at home for a while, but I’ve never thought to make it out of coffee instead of water. I made a 600g batch on my Ratio Six of a nice and balanced Guatemalan coffee roasted by Cat & Cloud. This coffee is super mellow, not too acidic, and not too complex. Perfect for complementing the stars of this show.
I left the coffee on my bar for a few hours to let it cool to room temperature and then I simply poured the coffee into my ice tray. I carefully placed my secret ingredient into the freezer and left it to freeze over night.
Now all that was left to do was assemble the Old Fashioned in my favourite way, chill it with a stir over regular ice in a Boston shaker, and strain it gently over my coffee ice cube! Cheers.
My first attempt
I was pleasantly surprised by my first attempt at this drink. I wasn’t a grand departure from the makeup of a classic Old Fashioned so I figured the stakes were pretty low. My first few sips were awfully familiar, tasting like my favourite cocktail. Chilling the drink first before pouring it over the coffee ice ensured that the coffee didn’t start melting right away. I had a suspicion that the drink would evolve curiously over time, and my next few sips proved that to be true.
As the coffee started to melt, a flavour that reminded me of Madagascar dark chocolate started to appear. Not too bitter, not too sweet - just right. Over the course of the drink as the coffee continued to melt the Old Fashioned evolved into something entirely different. It’s hard to describe other than it was everything I hoped it would be.
I ended up swapping the classic angostura bitters for orange bitters from my favourite local distillery, Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers. The orange bitters are a little less spicy and really open up the acidity that both the orange and coffee bring to the table. I think chocolate bitters would really do well to punctuate the chocolate and caramel flavours that this specific coffee brings to the table. Mole bitters would also play nicely by warming this cocktail up a bit, adding some spice and balancing the sweetness.
Although this might feel like a winter cocktail, I think it’s worthy of sipping all year long. Maybe not a Sunday afternoon at the pool kind of drink, but this Old Fashioned has Saturday night written all over it.
Here’s the recipe
Ingredients
2oz bourbon whiskey
1/4oz simple syrup
5 dashes orange bitters
1 coffee ice cube
Steps
Brew a large batch of a mellow coffee, a washed coffee from Central/South America should do. Let rest until it comes down to room temperature.
Once at room temperature, pour into cocktail ice cube mold and freeze (this one is my favourite)
To a Boston shaker, add 5 dashes orange bitters, 1/4oz simple syrup, 2oz bourbon, and one large ice cube. Stir with a bar spoon until the shaker is cold.
Strain over your coffee ice cube in a cocktail glass.
Using a knife or peeler, cut a strip off a fresh orange.
Pinch the strip orange side down just over your cocktail to spritz the zest and oils. Rub the orange side around the rim of the glass.
Gently place in your cocktail to garnish, and serve immediately.
Here’s what people are saying
And that’s it! I’ve found a whole new world of mixology in the pursuit of this drink and I think I’m hooked. What’s your favourite cocktail?
