Coffee Old Fashioned

Coffee old fashioned cocktail
 One of my favorite cocktails is the old fashioned. This cocktail goes back so far that finding its creator is practically impossible and for the most part the recipe has remained unchanged since the early 1800’s. The recipe starts with whiskey (bourbon or rye), sugar, bitters, and water (ice is commonly used now). The orange peel, and various combinations of muddled fruit were added post prohibition.

The old fashioned has been redefined many times over the years, and the modern coffee old fashioned is one modern variation of this classic cocktail. To make this variation it's important to select ingredients that will complement the cocktail and not over power the others.

Choose a whiskey
Selecting a whiskey can be a daunting task. there so many choices that trying to write about would take a blog post or two on its own. So, do some searching and find something you like. My only recommendation is that you choose something with enough strength that the sugar, ice, and coffee don't overpower it.

Choosing a coffee
Choose a coffee that has been roasted dark. You can use either cold brew or hot brewed, but I like cold brew concentrate. The concentrate packs a lot of flavor and in my opinion best suited for this task as you will not be using a large amount of coffee in the beverage.

Choosing a sweetener
An old fashioned is traditionally made with white sugar. If you want to take this drink to another level, try using brown sugar. This will add some depth of flavor and they really compliment the coffee and whiskey. But you really can try just about any type of sweeter, honey, real maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc. If you don't like taking the time to mix the drink to get the sugar to dissolve, make a simple syrup beforehand with one-part sugar and one-part water. You can also try making a syrup with the hot coffee, if you are making the coffee fresh.
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To make the cocktail
Ingredients

1. 2oz of Whiskey
2. 1oz of coffee
3. 1/2 tsp of sweetener
4. 3 dashes of bitters
5. Add if desired, Ice, Orange peel, maraschino cherries

Directions

1. Add sugar and bitters to your glass and stir
2.  Add coffee and whiskey and combine
3.  Add ice if desired
4.  Add orange peel and cherries

Cheers!

Photo by Nuff . on Unsplash