About Milwaukee's love of Old Fashioneds

Walk into a Milwaukee supper club or bar on a Friday night and you’ll likely see bartenders lining up rocks glasses and filling each with maraschino cherries, orange slices and a dash of sugar. Next comes a shot of soda water and a muddler. Then, the brandy.

The Old Fashioned cocktail isn’t supposed to be made with brandy, but like anything in Wisconsin, we’ve taken an idea and made it our own. And boy, do we own it.

During an average weekend at the Five O’ Clock Steakhouse on West State Street, bartenders serve more than 100 brandy Old Fashioneds, general manager Hegel Terron told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

During the week, the daily average probably tops at 75, he said.

At the Packing House supper club on East Layton Avenue, general manager Chris Wiken said he’s ordering two cases of Korbel brandy per week.

The vast majority of customers are asking for brandy Old Fashioneds sweet, Wiken said. But in recent years, customers are getting a bit more picky about which brandy they want – ordering Milwaukee’s Central Standard or even comedian Charlie Berens’ spirit.

On a good Friday night, the Packing House is filling a couple hundred rocks glasses with Wisconsin’s favorite cocktail. In a year’s time, that’s tens of thousands, Wiken said.

“I cannot keep Korbel on hand. It just flies out the door,” he said. “Friday night is probably when we sell the most because the pairing with the fish fry is a really good pairing.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: About Milwaukee's love of Old Fashioneds