The Old Fashioned is one of those simple, classic cocktails. Fun fact: the earliest definition of “cocktail” appeared in 1806 in the newspaper Balance and Columbian Repository: “A stimulating liquor composed of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.” Those are the basic ingredients for an Old Fashioned. It’s pretty cool how it’s one of the most popular drink and typically found on top of a bar menu over 200 years later! To jazz up the Old Fashioned, I decided to take advantage of blood orange season and incorporate that into this cocktail. The sweet, tart flavor of blood orange juice matches perfectly with the whiskey. Speaking of the star of the show, the whiskey, one of my favorites is Sagamore Whiskey (this isn’t an ad). It’s a smooth whiskey and their distillery is located in Baltimore, Maryland (my hometown) so bars are filled with their delicious whiskey. They also have a bunch of distilled varieties that have not disappointed (I’ve tried five or six so far), so I’d highly recommend you check out this whiskey!
Okay so we have the whiskey, now you just need blood oranges, simple syrup, an ice cube, and bitters and you’re set! One of the easiest cocktails you’ll probably ever make. Blood oranges not only bring a complimentary flavor to the whiskey, but it adds a nice pink/orange hue to your cocktail. You can garnish with an orange peel or dehydrated orange slices which would be perfect if you’re entertaining.
When it comes to ice for an Old Fashioned, the reason you want to use one big ice cube is it melts slower than if you use smaller ice because there’s less surface area. This will prevent your drink from becoming diluted faster so you can enjoy it sip by sip. You can either use a cube of ice or a sphere which has even less surface area than the cube! Regardless, either are good choices when it comes to chilling you’re Old Fashioned cocktail without all the dilution.
Blood Orange Old Fashioned
- 1 ¾ oz. Sagamore Whiskey or favorite Whiskey
- ¾ oz. Blood Orange juice
- ¾ oz simple syrup
- 2-3 dashes orange bitters
- In a cocktail shaker with ice, add the whiskey, blood orange juice, simple syrup, and bitters. Shake until chilled and serve over ice.
Comment below and feel free to tag me on Instagram if you make this Blood Orange Old Fashioned or any of my other recipes!