We found the best cocktails were made using one of these three bourbons: Using a local or small batch bourbon would also be a nice twist on this classic drink if you are able to locate one. The bourbon you use will probably have the greatest impact on the taste of the drink. We tried as many bourbons as we could get our hands on that would be widely available. Which Bourbon Brand is Best in an Old Fashioned? Many recipes call for a single teaspoon, or you might prefer a sweeter drink, but we found 2 teaspoons really balanced the cocktail perfectly. How much simple syrup should I add to my Old Fashioned? We found the sweet spot to be 2 teaspoons (or 2 bar spoons). The agave dissolved the best and was the best sugar alternative. The maple syrup left an unpleasant, maple-y taste. The honey was nearly impossible to dissolve. We tested agave, maple syrup, and honey next to each other in otherwise identical cocktails. The organic cane sugar was a good alternative, but the regular cane sugar ended up lacking depth of flavor and would be our last choice.Īlternative sweeteners were okay, with agave being the best. Although any would work, the turbinado made a more complex Old Fashioned and ended up being the clear winner. We tested turbinado sugar, organic cane sugar, and regular cane sugar simple syrup side by side in otherwise identical cocktails. In our testing, turbinado simple syrup made the best Old Fashioned. It makes mixing and getting the appropriate amount of sweetness much easier. It isn’t perfect, but it works if that’s all you have or you don’t want to make simple syrup. It’s sort of like a quick-and-easy simple syrup. The best trick we had and one that can work in a pinch is to dissolve the sugar cube in hot water first. We tried muddling them, adding them into some of the bourbon, and anything else we could think of. It ended up being very difficult to get any of the sugar cubes to fully dissolve. Therefore, we tested the following sugars in our cocktail: The second question was if simple syrup or a sugar cube is superior. The first question we tried to answer was what kind of sugar tastes best in an Old Fashioned. Remain conscious of your whiskey choice, using the right bitters to make it sing.What’s the Best Sugar in an Old Fashioned? Don’t shy away from flavor, modify to taste. Switching to orange bitters is a common play, but for a truly autumnal beverage, black walnut bitters pairs perfectly with bourbon. Angostura is the classic pick, with warm baking spices and a spicy sweetness. Now that you have a base, it's time to play with bitters. Either bourbon or rye will work, so use whatever suits your tastes. When selecting the foundation, choose a whiskey that could fly solo and stands up to the sugar and aromatic bitters. This shortcut also allows for easy modification, since sometimes only a bit of extra sugar is needed, and who wants to bother cutting a dried up sugar cube? If it isn’t already on hand, it can be made in less than 30 seconds. The blasphemous alternative is to use simple syrup, which blends easily without manual labor. The home bartender will take forever to get through them, leaving dry and deteriorated contents. Unfortunately, sugar cubes come in huge boxes. Fresh cubes retain much of their moisture content, making for easy crushing. If you choose to muddle your sugar cube, it needs a proper soaking of bitters. Ultimately, there are many things to consider. Indeed, thoroughly incorporating the sugar is an important step in creating this sublime classic, but do short cuts really adulterate the product? Unless you are a stickler for procedure, you might be more interested in efficiency, for which an alternative method exists. Those who vehemently adhere to “proper” technique can require up to 20 minutes of muddling to crush a sugar cube. To crush or not to crush? Some believe the success of an Old Fashioned hinges on the application of sweetener.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |