The act of mixing drinks has in recent years been promoted to a near art form. Items once considered purely culinary have migrated from the kitchen to the bar, like balsamic reductions, house-fermented sodas and tinctures, truffle oil, and the like. The New American Cocktail is a beautiful development, but not at Thanksgiving.
On such a Norman Rockwell-esque holiday, the best way to get started is with an Old Fashioned. Most bar patrons may be familiar with this scenario: The barkeep opens up a packet of sugar (half of it spills on the bar), he muddles a maraschino cherry and an orange wedge, fills the glass with booze and bitters, adds ice, and maybe splashes it with club soda. The cocktail sits in front of you for a few minutes and suddenly you are left with a diluted mess of a beverage; the orange carcass is floating around, and you have maybe two small ice cubes left. I implore you, instead, to try the true Old Fashioned, which involves no muddling whatsoever. The beauty of the Old Fashioned cocktail is that it is actually a base formula that can be applied to quite a few liquors. Back in the late 1800s, a gent would walk into the bar and ask for a cocktail made in the Old Fashioned method: with water, bitters, sugar and a base spirit. The availability of certain spirits during this time dictated what the cocktail would contain (generally cognac, until that was unavailable, then rye whiskey).
[try this with that] >> old fashioned
I like to drink Old Fashioneds before dinner, and they pair well with nibbles like mixed nuts, olives and cheeses. If you convert some family members into Old Fashioned drinkers, the drink also pairs well with Thanksgiving dinner.
>> Fill a pint glass with ice.
>> Add 2 dashes Angostura bitters and 2 dashes orange bitters.
>> Add 1 bar spoon (less than 1/2 oz.) simple syrup of choice (equal parts sugar and water).
>> Add 2 oz. liquor of choice; I highly recommend Bulleit rye.
>> Stir for about 30 seconds.
>> Strain over ice.
>> Garnish with a long orange twist and a brandied cherry.
>> Be thankful for this cocktail!
[Jorie Taylor is a certified sommelier and the bar manager at Cielo at the Four Seasons Hotel.]