THE PERFECT OLD FASHIONED

17 Jul 2014 By David Fuhrmann-Lim

Is this potent drink simply sublime, or do you prefer a fancier cocktail? Do you use bourbon, rye or scotch; is fruit sacrilege; and where do you stand on water and ice?

By Felicity Cloake

The old fashioned has been the old-fashioned way to make a cocktail for about 130 years, during which time it has been in and out of fashion – its current resurgence seems almost entirely attributable to its popularity with Mad Men’s dreamy Don Draper, who is rarely without one in his dapper hand as he swings his way through the 60s.

The no-nonsense counterpart to all those tediously long drinks full of fizz, fancy flavours and more fruit juice than your average breakfast bar, the old fashioned is that rare thing: a cocktail that actually tastes of booze. It is a drink that goes down as well before dinner as after it; one that you’ve almost always got the ingredients for; and which packs just enough punch that one is, sensibly, enough. (Though, unlike a martini, two is rarely too many.)

Read the rest at The Guardian