Old Fashioned

When you get right down to it, the Bourbon Old Fashioned is little more than a slug of whiskey, seasoned and sweetened. Yet for all of its suave simplicity, the drink remains as relevant today as it was when it first captured drinkers' hearts 200 years ago. If you're a history buff, you could draw a straight line connecting this drink to the first recorded definition of the cocktail category in general (circa 1806), which called for spirits, sugar, water and bitters. The Old Fashioned hits all those marks, with whiskey, sugar, water and aromatic bitters.

2 oz bourbon (45 mL)
3 dashes Angostura bitters
½ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. water

Garnish:
orange slice or peel

Add the sugar and bitters to a rocks glass, then add water, and stir until sugar is nearly dissolved.

Fill the glass with large ice cubes, add the bourbon, and gently stir to combine.

Express the oil of an orange peel over the glass, then drop it in.

Makes 1 cocktail.