What makes an Old Fashioned

An Old Fashioned is a template: spirit, sugar, bitters, water from ice. The name is a joke that stuck — people wanted the old-fashioned way of making a cocktail when menus got loud. Use a whiskey you would drink neat. Muddle a sugar cube with bitters or stir in a little syrup. Add ice and whiskey. Express citrus oil over the glass if you like orange. A cherry is garnish, not a food group. Fruit salad muddles belong to a later era of hotel bars. If you enjoy them, fine — just know you ordered a different drink. Rye leans spicy; bourbon leans round. Both are correct. The best version is the one you can repeat. That is why the drink survived every trend cycle.