The old-Fashioned cocktail is one of the most if not the most complex cocktails to make. The way each bartender makes and treat each single ingredient results in a unique drink.

Old-Fashioned follows the original definition of the word cocktail described in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 The Bartender Guide, where the recipe calls for spirit, bitters, sugar and water.

Believed to be an American invention, the first reference to the name Old-Fashioned is in George J. Kappeler’s 1895 Modern American Drinks, where he gives the option for different based spirits. Notes that the original recipes ask for lemon peel and not orange as used nowadays.