Columbus bars and restaurants keep the classic old fashioned alive with modern riffs
There are 907 places to get a cocktail in the seven counties of central Ohio, according to state liquor permits.
Between them all, they probably make at least 906 versions of the old fashioned.
The most classic cocktail of all − so much so that its original name in 1806 was just cocktail − is the one from which all others evolved. But it's also one of the most constantly tweaked, reinterpreted or totally reinvented drinks around.
The old fashioned's simple recipe of liquor, sugar, bitters and ice (water when it was newly fashioned) lends itself to additions and substitutions that make it fit in just about anywhere.
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Among the dim lights, wood paneling and leather booths at The Top, Bexley's classic steakhouse, an old fashioned is the kind of old-school cocktail that Don Draper loved on "Mad Men."
At Easton Town Center's PBR Cowboy Bar, where the chaps-clad Buckle Bunnies perform line-dance numbers and people try to hang on as the mechanical bull gains speed, a signature smoked-cinnamon old fashioned comes covered so its campfire aroma lingers until only the ice is left.
At Denmark, a curated-cocktail lounge in the Short North that serves guests a "cocktail experience," the old fashioned on the spring drink menu is made with Glenmorangie scotch, amontillado sherry, Amaro Nonino liqueur, Demerara sugar flavored with Chinese black tea and grapefruit cardamom bitters.
“It’s easy to go in different directions because it's such a simple cocktail," said Blair Beavers, co-founder of the Columbus Craft Cocktail Tour. "It's very easy take that base of whiskey, the bitters, the simple (syrup) and change it out.”
Mixologist Genevieve Johnson serves classic and modern versions of the old fashioned at I Like It Like That, which opened in March at Natalie's in Grandview Heights. The aptly named old-fashioned old fashioned is made with Maker's Mark, a sugar cube and bitters; the newer take uses Middle West Spirits white rye, caraway and white pepper, cherry and vanilla.
"It's always been trendy," Johnson said of the cocktail that she thinks makes people feel like an adult. "It is the classic."
"They’re good and they always were good," said Beavers, who ranks the old fashioned in his personal top 10.
The original cocktail is 218 years old
Well, maybe not always good.
In his 2019 book, "Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters: How the Cocktail Conquered the World," author Derek Brown wrote that sugar − or honey, molasses, syrup or sorghum − was used in early-American mixed drinks because sweetness took the edge off the harsh, unaged whiskeys of the day.
That 1806 birthdate was given because it's the oldest-discovered use of the word cocktail that came with a description: "a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters."
As taverns began heading off in all sorts of directions with the spirits-of-any-kind piece of the recipe, people began asking for an old-fashioned cocktail. And as cocktail became the catchall term for all sorts of mixed drinks, old fashioned became shorthand for the original.
Mixologists (people who create cocktails) and bartenders (people who make cocktails) say the old fashioned's genius is its simple blend of complementary ingredients. The sugar or syrup enhances rather than covers up the taste of the whiskey, while the bitters keep the sugar in check. A more modern addition, orange or lemon peel, adds aroma and another flavor.
Brown's recipe calls for 2 ounces of rye, a quarter- to half-ounce of simple syrup, two dashes of bitters and a lemon peel for garnish. It's stirred with ice in a mixing glass, then strained into a rocks glass with new ice.
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The old fashioned's new direction
And from there, the old fashioned gets new again. Cocktail people call them riffs, and those riffs on the old fashioned are what keep a drink once loved by Mark Twain and Harry Truman interesting to new generations.
“I like to see the creativity and talent of people in the industry,” said Nick Ansara, senior beverage operations manager for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. “I would say it’s kind of a measurement of a bartender or mixologist’s personality.”
Although Cameron Mitchell's food menus range from fine-dining to diners, from steaks and seafood to burgers and wings, some take on the old fashioned has a spot on almost all of the company's cocktail menus.
They're made with Russell's Reserve 10-year bourbon at Mitchell's Ocean Club, where steaks run up to $100. They're made with George Dickel rye at Budd Dairy Food Hall, where people stand in line for cheesesteaks, fried chicken or loaded fries.
The Barn at Rocky Fork Creek makes an old fashioned with tequila, but most other Mitchell restaurants use rye. Some use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar. Flavors in bitters include orange and black walnut.
'Simple is the ideal'
"Bitters are like seasoning," said David Yee, one of four owners of Cobra, the Brewery District restaurant and cocktail bar that recently was nominated for a prestigious Spirited Award from the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.
At Cobra, the old fashioned is made with two kinds of bitters, the patent medicine-turned-cocktail flavoring agent. Angostura, the paper-covered bottle at the back of many liquor cabinets, is the best-known brand, but many places now make their own.
Yee said the cocoa and barley tea bitters in the old fashioned he developed with Cobra co-owner Alex Chien highlight the warmth, richness and depth of the cocktail's Toki Japanese whiskey and Jim Beam rye.
“Simple is the ideal," he said. "At the end of the day, you’re highlighting the whiskey. Every choice you make around it should enhance the drink.”
But variety is the spice of life
At Downtown's Buckeye Bourbon House, there's a cocktail menu and an old-fashioned menu. It's a good fit for a bourbon-focused bar housed in a 1926 bank building with marble floors and brass-plated ceilings.
The nine versions of the cocktail on the Buckeye Bourbon House old-fashioned menu range from hard-core to cheeky, with names like "Lil' R&R" and "Peach Parole." The former: two smoked but classic old fashioneds; one uses the bar's Maker's Mark barrel selection, and the other uses Jim Beam double oak bourbon.
Among the latter: A cocktail named "Some More," which uses graham cracker-infused bourbon, marshmallow syrup and chocolate bitters.
"We're a whiskey bar, but people sometimes will say, 'I’m not a big whiskey fan. What do you suggest?'" said food and beverage director Sean Krasinski.
He said he always suggests an old fashioned.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus bars keep the classic old fashioned alive with modern takes
