The following is an extended version of the article that appears in our September 2021 issue.
Photo by Adam Jamie via Unsplash
The word “cocktail” first appeared in print in 1806 and slipped by almost unnoticed, because the newspaper that published the term was also running exclusive stories from the Lewis and Clark expedition. But it also defined a cocktail as "a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters” — aka an Old-Fashioned, minus the citrus peel.
By the Book
At Belmont Food Shop, Sam Mellinger prefers an Old-Fashioned that reflects the mid-19th-century classic style — muddled with a lemon peel and raw sugar. His version starts with a boozy bang and gains sweetness as the sugar remnants sink in the glass.
Toward the 1960s, the Old-Fashioned morphed to include half an orange wheel and a cocktail cherry, muddled, which makes an entirely different drink, with its own charms and reputation.
Today, bartenders often use simple syrup instead of granular sugar for a silky, smooth balance. This also provides opportunities for bartenders to get creative.
Call It a Comeback
At Brenner Pass, Steve Yang goes one step further. He reduces a bottle of red wine down to half its volume and stirs in equal parts sugar to make a nebbiolo syrup. The reduction enriches the bourbon to produce a subtle dance of sweetness and tannins.
Though Virago Spirits doesn’t make whiskey — yet? — its sherry Old-Fashioned served by bartender Ayla Payne spotlights the tropical heat and vanilla-raisin tones of Virago’s PX sherry cask rum, proving that this cocktail can be limitless.
When I was a bartender, my shift drink changed with the seasons, with the trends and with flights of fancy — but I always returned to a classic rye Old-Fashioned, slightly modified. Orange peel, lemon peel, soak a raw sugar cube with mole bitters and a drop of Ango. Muddle to a paste. Add 2-3 ounces of decent rye, and always stir in the glass.
It’s fitting that this is my last cocktail column in Richmond magazine before I resume the spirited quest out west in Albuquerque. Thanks for reading all these months. If I were still behind the bar, I’d pour you a shot of Fernet Branca and raise a toast. To you. To RVA. To tomorrow.
May you walk away stirred and not shaken.
19th C. Old-Fashioned
Sam Mellinger, Belmont Food Shop
1 lemon peel
1/2-1 teaspoon raw sugar
3-5 dashes Angostura bitters
2 ounces Catoctin Creek rye
In a rocks glass, lay the peel yellow side up and sprinkle the sugar on top. Dash the bitters on the sugar to make a paste. Gently muddle to scratch up the citrus and release its oils without mangling the peel. Add whiskey, add ice, stir.
Nebbiolold-Fashioned
Steve Yang, Brenner Pass
2 ounces bourbon
1/4 ounce nebbiolo syrup
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
In a rocks glass, combine ingredients. Add ice and stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
For the nebbiolo syrup:
Over medium heat, reduce 1 bottle of nebbiolo (or dry red wine) down to about 2 cups. Stir in 2 cups sugar and let cool. Store in the fridge for up to a month.
Sherry Old-Fashioned
Ayla Payne, Virago Spirits
2 ounces Virago sherry cask rum
¼ ounce simple syrup
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
In a rocks glass, combine ingredients. Add ice and stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
Paul Blumer is a writer and emeritus craft bartender.
