Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Click here helixsleep.com/howtodrink to get 25% off your Helix mattress (plus a FREE bedroom bundle!) during their Presidents’ Day Sale, which ends February 20th. If you miss this limited time offer, you can still get 20% off using my link! Offers subject to change. #helixsleep Curiada: bit.ly/getyroldfashionedhere Twitch: bit.ly/2VsOi3d H2D2: bit.ly/YTH2D2 twitter: bit.ly/H2DTwit instagram: bit.ly/H2dIG Blog: bit.ly/H2DBlog Patreon: bit.ly/H2DPatreon Gear: amzn.to/2LeQCbW What is an Old Fashioned: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DLk67oMq8Og.htmlsi=uZ1PUrXIp26uIjxD Old Fashioned's New Twists: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Zuj8AuVWKx4.htmlsi=cA4IPNbupZUehLgM Coffee Old Fashioned: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9PUvDvfn5oA.htmlsi=zEvt_sL923DbCg0-
Missed these more classic cocktail deep dives. Your old vids on the history and tips about making the classics I am ALL for this felt like watching a vid from years ago
Same here. Of Course its Gregs channel and he can do whatever he wants with it, but I really stopped watching when every video was essentially "most horrible drinks", "how random can we be", "bad drink review", etc. I get that this stuff has an audience, but its not me. I love his classic drinks and history videos, they are so well researched and well made, also the bar basics, and rewatch them all the time. And I don't mind to sprinkle in some easier videos that probably click a lot better, but for me, with those more memefied videos, there is just nothing to take away for me. Wow, a drink, that was specifically engineered to taste horrible? Lets taste it. Oh, its horrible? Who would have thought? For me, the "lets make this drink out of this intellectual property" where the perfect middle ground between serious, well researched ones and light and goofy ones. But let me state again, its Gregs channel and he can do whatever he wants with it, but if he would go back to the more classic episodes, I would watch him again :) I missed you Greg.
I've been really missing these kinds of videos too! I kinda fell off when it was becoming mostly themed drinks. I'm glad to see this kind of thing again; it was thoroughly entertaining. I get that you can only really say so much when it comes to the history and deep dive of classic cocktails, so branching off and making videos on themed drinks is absolutely valid 😁
Greg, thank you for going back to classic drink episodes! Please do more of those! I would love you to explore other classics like Brooklyn and Martinez!
I know these videos are probably not going to perform to the level of your usual content, but having these deep dives into basics are really helpful and useful to have. A great many thanks good sir. Also appreciate the inclusion of alternative base old fashions. A gin old fashion is one of my favorite winter cocktails, and I will admit I get some sick pleasure out of the look of confusion and concern on whiskey purists faces when I place my order.
I recommend an alternative I invented for shits and giggles 2oz tequila orange bitters .25oz simple lime twist I wanted it to be a Margarita Old Fashioned, and that's what I ended up with. Haven't tried ordering it at a bar yet!
I haven’t watched a second of the video yet, but let me just say - I’ve been waiting for this. I know you link to your old videos to explain stuff that you did in the past, but I think this is good for the channel. Refreshing your old content into the algorithm, (damn it all) and also just adding additional history, context, and new discoveries into new videos sounds perfect. Not to mention just continuing the fun energy Greg brings into these. Very excited to watch!
10:06 - I'm with you man... start with whatever ingredient you want, and block out the gatekeepers. 16:30 - Yes. A lot of the old cocktail books in my collection from 1900 - 1920s have lots of 'Old Fashioned' cocktails made with just about every brown base spirit used in that time period: Brandy, whiskey, whisky, bourbon, Scotch, and Rum.
A colab between Glen and Greg needs to happen. Both fantastic channels, I hope this happens one day. After the Sazerac, a rum old fashioned has to be one of my favorites. Appleton Estate 12 Year Rare Casks and Angostura make just a fantastic cocktail. El Dorado 8yr with some chocolate bitters is very tasty as well.
FINALLY!!! This is what we want. Old and modern classics, deep dives into the history. Show us some awesome Death and Co and morganthaler stuff. And from the looks of the comments everybody else wants this kinda of HtD again also.
Sadly, comments are an extremely small minority of the audience and this episode is severely underperforming. I wish stuff like this worked better, it’s much easier to make than a lot of other content! Don’t worry though, I’ve still got more plans for this kind of content.
My favorit Old Fashioned so far is Simple Syrup made from Demerara sugar (a bit longer on the stove and slightly higher temp then usual to get a bit of caramel taste), Bulleit Burboun and all three of normal, orange and chocolate bitters. Made in a mixing glass for several people at once. The caramelly orange-chocolate taste is amazing.
This is very close to my Old Fashioned of choice as well. Bulleit is a great middle-of-the-pack bourbon. I also do a riff on this substituting maple syrup for the demerara and finishing it off by smoking the whole thing with some cherry wood.
I use the Luxardy cherry 'juice' for part of my syrup. Not all of it, just a half teaspoon and then the rest demarara. It's effectively cherry flavored simple syrup.
This is the HTD that I missed 😂 Don't get me wrong, the "fun" episodes are good... But I love hearing about how the context of the time molded what people were doing with their time and money. The formula breakdown is great, and I love the advice on training the brain to pick up flavours. I've not heard of that process before. We've jumped headlong into whisky these last couple of years, bought a smelling kit to practice with. A lot of my notes are musical or colour based, so I'm looking forward to giving this a crack
I never thought about the concept of the "Old Fashioned" being a formula, but it explains why a new cocktail I fell in love with is so good to me: It's called the Revolver, which is 2oz Bourbon (Bulleit, for the wordplay) and 1oz Kahlua plus Bitters and a twist of orange. It became my new favorite simple cocktail over the Old-Fashioned, both because it's easier and tastes better to me, but only now that you mentioned it that it still sort of follows the same "Old-Fashioned" formula! It's always fun finding frameworks to be able to come up with new mixes that are almost guaranteed to be good.
I like subbing liqueurs for simple. A mariscino old fashioned is called a Fancy Free. A Benedictine old fashioned is called a Monte Carlo (my current favorite). An amaretto old fashioned (or a bourbon godfather) is called The Boss. All very good!
Brandy old fashioned has become one of my favorite drinks! nothing like finding a supper club and getting some local perch/walleye and an Old Fashion on Friday nights.
@@acciobeer the classic would be korbel, but any california brandy would work and french brandies i've tried worked well too (although with those i'd only use club soda to top)
Absolutely on the korbell but it is hard to find I've been searching for it for years and only manged to snag a bottle when I moved to OH , I use e&j black for mine when I was down south not terrible@@makmoose
The theory videos like this and your magic formula have been my favorites on this channel by far. Love watching you experiment and talk about the methods and patterns behind the madness. As somebody interested in exploring cocktails for myself, they seem like they're likely the most valuable, too.
The surrounding history primers that you bring to these otherwise excellent cocktail videos is what sets you apart. Please keep doing this. I stepped away when you started getting into the movie-inspired stuff, although i know lots of people like those. But please keep doing series' like these.
@@howtodrink There's a possibility it might be the length + topic that might be the cause of that. I was actually considering skipping this one, but work is down right now, and I got plenty of time to kill. I'm obviously enjoying myself while watching this and learning so much, but under other circumstances where I have other things I can watch, I might not be inclined for this one. It _might_ help to break videos like this one into a short series or otherwise to have individual shorter videos with different titles, but I get that it messes with the flow of the show and "Greg stories".
@@howtodrink if it makes you feel any better my boyfriend and I are long time watchers of you and as soon as I saw this video up I said “Oh my god! Greg’s posted an old fashioned video!” I haven’t seen my boyfriend so excited in weeks - it’s the first cocktail he taught me to make, which he learnt from you, and it’s always been special to us. This video was instantly one of our favourites.
@@howtodrinkI really hope it doesn't dissuade you from making more like this. I've been watching your channel for years, it is what ignited my passion for cocktail making. I am so, so happy to see a return to this type of content, awesome video.
My personal little twist was something I picked up from the Difford's Guide Old Fashioned and Improved Whiskey Cocktail recipes. In those recipes, Simon Difford calls for using a split base when it comes to the whiskey: 1 to 1-1/2oz bourbon and 1oz of 100-proof rye. I took that another step further- thinking that most bourbon is high-rye bourbon anyways and knowing that I enjoy wheated bourbon quite a bit- and always make sure to use a wheated bourbon like Maker's or Larceny. You're basically making a deconstructed/homebrew high-rye bourbon blend that tastes better than the sum of its parts. I've also got the Smuggler's Cove book so my go-to simple syrups usually have plenty of raw/turbinado sugar flavor to them which only makes the end product taste even more rustic, caramel-y, and dessert-y. Usually round all of that out with half Angostura and half Orange bitters.
Hi Greg! My boyfriend and I LOVE your videos, we’ve watched so many. He’s tried lots of your recipes for stuff like grenadine, lime cordial, and of course cocktails themselves. My boyfriend recently made a coffee old fashion that is fantastic (if I do say so myself as I am taste tester) and he wanted to share the recipe with you. It’s 2oz bourbon, teaspoon of water, 4 dashes of angostura bitters and a 0.5oz of coffee simple syrup (1:1 ratio of coffee to sugar). We’d love to hear what you think! 🥰 @MikeMGTV try it too, we love your videos as well!
One of my drinks is the Brandy Cocktail from Jerry Thomas's book, which is part of the old fashioned family. It's 2 ounces cognac, 1/2 ounce gum, 1/4 ounce dry curacao and 3 dashes boker's, built in a rocks glass with a lemon twist. Also I think the old fashioned was based on this because the Whisky Cocktail in Bon Vivan'ts is served up, and also in Harry Johnson's bartender's manual the Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail has curacao in it.
I love the videos like these that establish the fundamentals. I hope you have plans for a primer on herbal liquors. Unlike bitters, I have found no "samplers" of herbal liquors online after thorough research. So it's been hard to learn which ones to get other than gambling on the odd bottle.
The best video I've seen to this date from You! I really like the improvised style around a formula. That teaches much more than just applying a recipe. Great stuff!
Hey Greg, in the off-chance you see this, there is a method for doing the Cocktail Matrix where you cut the number of tests in half but still get the full data. It's called the Taguchi Orthogonal Array, there's a great video by Nighthawkinlight with "Using Factory Optimization..." in the title, it explains it well. It's incredible for refining drink recipes, or doing a cocktail matrix without getting absolutely plastered 😂
Love the deep dive, the history and the riffs perfect! Very fun touch with the ghoulish imagery - Funniest commercial for Helix I've ever seen, LOL! Brill!
I love the deap dives. That is how i got hooked on the show. The times where the tangents would be more of the episode than the actual premise, fkn love it.
IMO an essential element to a proper old fashion is the single large cube! Anytime I've had one in a bar and they only have the small stuff the drink was almost undrinkable.
My own spin/twist on the classic Old Fashioned came to be because where I live in Europe (Southern Germany), Angostura is not widely available. Its not like you don't get it, but you need to order it online, which is just annoying enough to sometimes not do it - also, shipping costs become an issue if you only need a little bottle which will last you for a really long time. So, I started substituting it with bitter herbal licores, of which we have a lot in Europe. After a bit of trial an error, I landed on fernet-branca as my go-to alternative. While I still make the classic one with angostura, the version with fernet-branca became a fun twist in my repertoire. Usually with a simple scotch and sometimes a twist of lemon peel. Edit: Just saw that you used a drop of fernet-branca as well, and I agree, you definitely need to hold it back to prevent it being a fernet-branca only drink. But you can balance it out slightly by using a little bit more sugar than usual. Also, I really like playing with rum Old Fashioneds as well.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 You are more than welcome! :) I almost hestitated to add this part of my comment, simply because this in days of online shopping less of a problem...glad it was still helpfull. :)
This video just reminds me of my absolute favorite drink. My father started making a drink that he calls the “Dirty Chaplain” where he used 2 oz of bourbon, half an ounce of maple syrup and 3 dashes of black walnut bitters with a spritz of a lemon peel. I can’t exactly explain why but this drink started my fascination with trying to make a perfect cocktail and trying to top the drink that my father made.
Back in the days it was sometimes difficult to get a bottle of actuall whisky or bourbon. The sugar and the bitters provided a way to disguise that the whisky was actually ethanol coloured with shoepolish.
Thanks Greg! New to the channel this information is a blessing and a curse. Because of this I just made an "Old Fashion" with vodka, 0.5 oz strawberry Vanilla Shrub, ango bitters, and a half bar spoon of oleo saccharum(also made because of you). This is nice and smooth.
One of your old will it Old Fashioned style videos inspired me to take this formula and make a billion Old Fashioned variations with multiple spirits and modifying ingredients. It was like my baby step to becoming a more rounded home bartender, so thank you Greg. It's nice to see you share the knowledge again, loved this video.
I’m always thrilled when I see a new video come out but especially excited to see one featuring the classic Old Fashioned 🥃 my favorite cocktail & way to present it - damn my Wisconsin roots & how they think to make them here
Yes, I also prefer my martinis wet, not dry. Re: this information you get on historical tidbits etc and having no proof, I must add that in a previous video you stated how to be at loggerheads came from lager heads etc - it 100% is not, and you were wrong wrong wrong! A logger head was an old nautical heating element that was an iron ball on a rod. It could also be a pretty brutal emergency weapon if getting boarded by pirates or whatever else. It became a saying to simply mean being in conflict. Sailor's sayings and nautical terminology are probably the most abundant in the English language, and no doubt others, since sailors used to be everywhere and shipping was the most important thing to society and economies for centuries.
Yes- a Loggerhead, which is left in the fire and used to heat Flip (a drink of sometimes eggs, beer, and rum, and other things) by plunging the red hot loggerhead into the mug and boiling the drink. Sailors drank too many Flip’s, and would be “at loggerheads” when they got to fighting. We’re talking about the exact same thing. Why do people think I just make shit up?
One of my favorite Old Fashioned is a Maple Rum Oldfashioned. 2 oz. El Dorado 12yr. (Or any other Demerara Rum) .5 oz Maple Syrup (make sure to not use cheap syrup or corn syrup) 2-3 Dashes Ango Bitters. Its absolutely amazing.
It may feel weird to go back to the basics, but your presentation style, skill and tone has changed a lot over the years. This is an excellent idea for a series, and I think you're ABSOLUTELY doing GREAT.
Dude the matrix is so real, I was just talking about learning to make an old fashioned. I have a bar but don't mix any drinks and I found a pre made mix that was like wooow so now I want to get into it. What perfect timing
Thank you for this insight to the Old Fashioned. I love this drink thanks to my best friend but I love that you have pulled it apart and taken it to another level.
Old fashioneds are how I slowly grew to love bourbon and brown liquors as someone who used to HATE them so I for sure recommend them for those who haven’t acquired a taste for whiskey yet! I always used the syrup from the luxardo cherries instead of sugar
I had an Anejo Fashioned that was delicious.. Anejo, agave nectar, orange bitters and garnished with a whiskey cherry.. Sweet, smokey, solid all the way around
Thanks for doing this series. Your original format of videos helped me get into cocktails and while I still enjoy your recent stuff, I really appreciate the renewed perspective on basic cocktails from a palate I feel like mine sort of grew up with.
Absolutely loved this episode. I often find myself playing with formulas of drinks to improvise a drink for my friends. This really seemed like you riffing similarly and loving it.
Tried a couple of variations last night Bourbon - I used Bullet as that was open Apricot Liqueur Cardamom bitters Orange Peel Havana 7 Creme de Banana Chocolate Bitters Orange Peel Both great, the Rum was excellent. Think this could be a fun game when we have guests over, let them go wild!
I appreciate this sort of refresh style video, had a lot of fun watching it. I think putting the Fernet and other ingredients with dominant flavors in a dasher bottle was an inspired choice that I will be using at home. Cheers!
I kind of love that you give the whole sugar cube thing a bit of a tough time. I personally always make it with syrup, but a lot of people seems to go all nuts when I don't use a sugar cube. It's completely fine if you enjoy your drink to start too dry and end too sweet with only a slight moment of perfect balance, and if you want your drinks to be crunchy - I won't stop you. Some people definitely do like those things. But I have a suspicion that a lot of people just want it because it's the "right way" and want to sound like they know the "right way" of making it. I recon the majority of people actually would prefer syrup. If it wasn't how it historically was made, no one would make it with a sugar cube. Because why else wouldn't we see more drinks (cocktails and otherwise) embrace crunchy sugar at the bottom and under sweetened taste for the first half?
Brings me back to the How To Drink that made me make my channel. Cheers brother! Great video. Keep them coming. Local Jersey boy who does Bourbon Reviews local to East Brunswick!
Wild Turkey and Kahlua definitely work together, I found that out a few years back when all I had in the house was 1/4 of a bottle of each, a lemon twist and a drop of vanilla also works with it.
love this!! I've been doing these kinds of things with old fashioneds for a while, tequila is a great mix up too. But also the sour/ gimlet/ daiquiri kinda class of cocktails (spirit, lime, sweet, maybe carbonation) is another great formula
I like a brown sugar cinnamon pear syrup for the sweet part. 3/4c each brown sugar, white sugar, and water with a pear diced up and a bit of cinnamon (not much cinnamon) brought to a boil. Bring to a simmer and cook pear. Let cool and strain out pears ( which are good in Greek yogurt). You are done. Easy with the bitters.
Thank you for this video, the Old Fashioned has been a favourite cocktail of mine for an age and hearing someone go through the mixology and history of it, along with some explorations of the formula inspired me to play around with it myself. I'm not sure if you'd call my take on the drink particularly original, but it tasted nice. Make in a tumbler: 1 shot brown sugar syrup (made with 1 shot hot water and 2 tsp brown sugar. If making this way, leave to cool before using) 2 dashes Angostura Bitters 2 shots Talisker Skye Single Malt whiskey. Length of orange peel. Ice (I used two cubes from a freezer ice tray, so maybe 60g of ice total. I'd definitely go cubes over chipped ice though) Pour the syrup into the glass followed by the two dashes of bitters, then the ice. Pour the whiskey over the ice and stir. Twist the orange over the drink, then add as a garnish. Enjoy. Personally, I really liked the interplay between the caramel/molasses flavours of the brown sugar and the whisky, with the orange giving the drink a brighter highlight. The syrup also made the drink very smooth and easy to drink. In fairness, it's my first serious attempt at making my own cocktail, so I'm not claiming it's perfect, it almost certainly isn't, but I did like it and will be making it again.
I know I am late to the party on this one, but I was listening and thought of making my own today. Stopped at the store and saw there was a old fashioned pre mix. I made two Old Fashioneds, one the cheater way, and one the sample syrup way. The difference was night and day of how good the hard work one was.
Please make more of these. So much cool history I didn't know of or think about and I loved how you broke everything down. "A formula!" It makes so much sense and I want to apply that way of thinking to many different things like when I'm cooking for making my morning coffee. Also, you gotta love the episodes where by the end, he's blasted after making so many drinks. Lmao.
I loved this return to some of the basics of making cocktails. While I love the "themed" videos as well having you revisit some of the classics now after so many years was fantastic. This format of taking the original and then expanding was great. More please!
Greg I’m catching up on episodes right now and I’m loving this and the whiskey sour episode! Thanks a ton for doing them! I know they don’t perform as well as some others, so I just wanted to let you know that it’s appreciated!!
Yesss. Videos like this are fun MasterClass-ish experimental reference guide that everyone should study up on when messn around in your own bar. Line Cook Old Fashion is tops
that note you mentioned in the gin old fashioned about the sommelier training thing is neat! honestly i think being able to pick out details like that is a useful skill that everyone should have to some measurable degree since its not just for booze analysis, but also for music and color theory if you so choose to pursue the arts, and so on. good stuff, man! keep doing what you do, because i think you have a very special flair for the business of presenting to entertain and inform! :3 much love, Rin
Yay! glad you're getting back to basics, Greg! Looking forward to the series with great interest. 1/3oz? wholly molly that is sweet. I use one bar spoon (5ml, 1/6oz) and find it plenty sweet with wild turkey 101. I also go crazy with the bitters and do four dashes. I guess everyone makes them to their own taste.
Had a rum old fashioned in Miami at the Ball and Chain in Little Havana. OMG it was fantastic. Bacardi 8 aged rum, demerara sugar, tobacco infused bitters, tobacco leaf garnish
