Understanding The "Old Fashioned"

Ingredient	Ratios	Explanation
Bourbon or Rye	Recommended 2.0 oz. Others 1.5 oz. 2.5 oz. 3.5 oz.	1.   The Spirit varies depending of the type of old fashion you are building for example; Bourbon or Rye 2.   Often you are going to hear that the perfect old fashion goes with 3.0 oz. or 1.5 oz. or 2.50 oz. It doesn’t matter as long as you don’t unbalance the drink, this also varies depending of the palate of every person, some people like their drinks mellow while others stronger. 3.   the most neutral amount of liquor for Whiskey cocktails is 2.0 oz.
Sweetener Agent	Recommended -Simple Syrup 0.25 oz   Others -Sugar Cube 1   -Granulated Sugar; 1 Bar spoon   Additional Cherry juice 1 Bar spoon	1.   The addition of Simple syrup to the cocktail is the most standard way to add sweetness to the drink, but you can always vary depending of your creativity or request of the costumer. 2.   Others sweeteners are: Sugar Cubes Granulated sugar  Brown Sugar Honey and limitless options of syrups 3.   1 Sugar cube is equal to  0.25 oz. of Simple Syrup or 1  1 Bar spoon of granulated sugar  4.   Some Bartender add a Bar spoon of cherry juice to accentuate  flavor and add sweetness
Bitters	Classic -Angostura 2- 4 Dashes   Others: -Orange Bitters 2 Dashes	1.   You can do an Old fashion using just  2 – 4 dashes of Angostura the amount of dashes you add is just your preference of flavor 2.   If you want to accentuate the orange flavor of old fashion add 2 dashes of orange bitters
Garnish	Classic Orange peel and Cherry   Others: -Lemon Peel -Cherry and orange slice Flag -Muddle the cherry and orange	1.   There is a science behind garnish a drink with citric peels, of course you do it because you want to beautify the drink but also, you want to impregnate the drink and the glass with the oils and aromas of the peel to create a aromatic and flavorful experience, if you just place the peel over the drinks and you don’t squeeze it and rub it against the rim of the glass, the drink doesn’t smell and taste equal, I dare you to do the experiment! 2.   A lot of people use the regular red Maraschino cherries and its totally ok but if you can afford black cherries is a big plus to your drink, they look more elegant and they taste better 3.   In some cases like the midcentury Old fashion  you can  muddle  2 cherries and a slice of orange with whiskey, bitters, sugar cube and ice cubes instead of the big rock
Ice	Classic -Big Rock Others -Shattered Big rock .Regular  Ice cubes	1.   Have you wonder why Bartenders use ths big square of ice to certain drinks as the old fashion? That big Ice cube has science behind; the smaller the ice the faster it dilutes, so when you add a bigger piece of ice, you want to induce the drink to a low temperature but you want preserve the intensity of the main flavors because the big ice won’t add as much water to the cocktail, Conclusion If you add regular ice cubes or a shattered big ice cube you are going to create a smother drink due to the faster dilution of the ice.