The first documented use of the word “cocktail” comes from the May 13th 1806 edition of The Balance And Columbian Repository which printed it’s definition like this:

A potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar.

The story of the modern Old Fashioned goes something like this: A guy walk into the Pendennis Club sometime in the mid 1880’s and sidles up to the bar. He asks the bartender for a drink in the Old Fashioned way. The Bartender, knowing that this guy doesn’t want an improved whiskey cocktail (the drink which emerged in the wake of slings) makes this guy a bittered sling, but where this drink deviates is that he puts it on ice, which by now was available widely, and garnishes with a twist of orange, adding the essential oils of the fruit. The Old fashioned was born!

There are many ways to make an Old Fashioned and this video is just one of those ways. And of course it’s my favorite. I will though from now on be posting various other recipes for an old fashioned . Some from important cocktail bars and others from bartenders and some from you guys. So comment below and let us know your favorite Old Fashioned build!

I want to state now that I got a date wrong. The Pendennis Club was opened in 1881 not 1861 as I previously thought. It’s a small mistake and not worth a reshoot. That puts the modern old fashioned creation in the mid 1880’s. So don’t get all crazy about the mistake, I am a creature of accuracy so i am correcting myself here.