Brandy Old Fashioned (Wisconsin-style)
4.2 55 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a old-fashioned glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of skewered orange slice wheel and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry (sail).
Method
- 3 MUDDLE first 4 ingredients in base of glass.
- 4 ADD brandy and 7oz scoop of crushed ice.
Garnish
- 5 Garnish with skewered orange slice and maraschino cherry (sail).
Flavour profile
History
A lightly sweetened and fruity brandy, chilled and diluted with crushed ice. This cocktail is typically prepared with Californian or another domestic brandy. Adjust the sugar syrup based on the sweetness of your brandy. Use an orange wedge instead of a slice, as muddling a slice can create undesirable debris in the drink. In Wisconsin, the Brandy Old Fashioned is often finished with a splash of 7-Up or Sprite for a "sweet" version, Squirt for a "sour" version, or a mix of 7-Up/Sprite and soda water for a "press."
The practice of muddling fruit in an Old-Fashioned appears to have originated as a way to mask the taste of poor-quality whiskey during Prohibition. This method persisted as the standard way to make an Old-Fashioned in America until the mid-1990s. With assistance from Jeffrey Morganthaler, the tradition of muddling fruit in whiskey-based Old-Fashioneds has declined, while its popularity in brandy-based versions has increased, especially in Wisconsin, where the Brandy Old-Fashioned is the state drink.