Brown sugar old fashioned

This is a modern take in this classic bourbon cocktail. An old fashioned cocktail is usually made with sugar cubes. This recipe swaps out the classic choice with homemade brown sugar syrup. I like that a lot because it gives the cocktail a caramel like taste. This might not be to everyone’s taste and might trigger those who favor tradition over experimentation. But I always say that you never really know until your try it!

Brown sugar syrup is nothing daunting. It is literally just boiled brown sugar simple syrup. So you boil the brown sugar with water until it dissolves. As you cook it, it forms a sticky syrup. For this recipe, you only need about 2 teaspoons. You can refrigerate the remainder syrup in the fridge in a mason jar for up to 5 days.

The old-fashioned mixes bourbon, bitters, sugar and hints of orange. I used Angostura bitters because that is what I had in my home at the time. But feel free to use Peychaud’s bitters, orange or chocolate bitters. This post by The Spruce Eats details this perfectly. What i love most about this recipe is that you don’t need any fancy cocktail equipment. All you need is a spoon! Maraschino cherries sound really fancy but you can usually find them in the baking section of the grocery store.

Brown sugar old fashioned

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Servings: 1 Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

Brown sugar syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1/4 cup water  

 

Old fashioned cocktail

1-2 teaspoons brown sugar syrup (see above on how to store the leftover syrup)

2 dashes bitters (I used Angostura bitters)

2 oz bourbon

Orange peel

Orange wedge, plus extra to garnish Maraschino cherries to garnish

Instructions

1. Boil brown sugar and water together in a saucepan on medium heat until it is completely dissolved.
2. Let it cool completely to room temperature (this makes close to 1/2 cup worth of syrup but you'll only need 2 teaspoons of this, see notes below).
3. In a whiskey glass, add the brown sugar syrup and saturate with a few drops of bitters. Muddle an orange wedge in the same glass.
4. Add ice to the glass and pour the bourbon over the ice. Stir and garnish with the orange peel, and maraschino cherry.