An Old Fashioned is essentially just whiskey sweetened, seasoned and diluted—but everyone seems to have their own firm opinion on the details. This is a super liberal take on the topic, and highly herbalized. Making your own sugar cubes feels like self-care—and is a great conversation piece. Make the sugar cubes a day ahead, but let your guests make their own cocktail using them, and you’re sure to find out. If you don’t have big ice cube molds, any ice will do.
The citrus notes in Charbay’s Doubled & Twisted Whiskey persuaded me to use lemon peel instead of the traditional Old Fashioned’s orange peel.
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon chopped super fine rosemary leaves
- ¼ teaspoon chopped super fine purple or green sage leaves
- ¼ teaspoon chopped super fine pineapple sage (optional)
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper (I use long pepper)
- ¾ cup turbinado sugar
- 2 drops Grapefruit Cardamom Bitters (I use Monarch Apothecary’s Grapefruit Cardamom Bitters)
- 1 teaspoon ice water
- 1–2 Herbal Sugar Cubes
- 3 drops Grapefruit Cardamom Bitters
- Splash of water
- 2 ounces whiskey
- Large ice cube
- Strip of lemon peel
- Sage leaf
Preparation
FOR THE HERBAL SUGAR CUBES
Combine the rosemary, sage(s), zests and pepper in a medium bowl with the sugar. Rub the mixture together with your fingers, pulverizing the herbs, zest and pepper into the sugar. The sugar will turn a greenish hue from the herb oils. Add the bitters and water and stir. The sugar should be slightly moistened and still crumbly, not wet.
Place 1 heaping teaspoon of the mix into individual sections of a sugar cube or ice cube mold. Press the mixture down firmly. Allow the sugar cubes to air-dry overnight, or at least 16 hours. Once the cubes have hardened, gently remove from the molds. You may need to use a butter knife to assist in removal. Store in an airtight container. These will keep for several months.
FOR EACH OLD FASHIONED
Place 1 or 2 of the Herbal Sugar Cubes into a rocks glass. Drop a few bitters and a tiny splash of water on top and gently muddle with a cocktail muddler, or just the back of a spoon, until the sugar has dissolved. You want the sugar to be smooth and paste-like, not swimming in liquid.
Place the ice cube in the glass, then add the whiskey and stir gently until well combined. Express the oil of the lemon peel over the glass and gently run it around the rim. Drop the peel and sage leaf, stem side down, into the glass.
