I like whiskey, but I have to say bourbon is my favorite variety. Its unique, subtly sweet flavor is like nothing else. I’m prone to enjoying a Manhattan cocktail now and then, but I do like an old-fashioned sometimes. I haven’t had one in ages, so I think that’s why this Spiced Old Fashioned practically called my name. The homemade spiced simple syrup sounds perfect for this cooler weather, so I’m giving it a go. Fingers crossed!
An Old Fashioned with a Holiday twist!
The Ingredients
I do a pantry check before shopping every week, and this time I had almost all the ingredients I needed. All but one, the ginger, but it was easily found at my regular grocery store. I love those short shopping lists!
By the way, I didn’t have maraschino cherries, I had bing cherries. Bada Bing Cherries to be exact. They’re just amazing and sounded perfect for this recipe.
The Process
The “work” for this recipe was making the spiced simple syrup, and it was pretty easy to do Just boil water, stir in sugar, and add spices. All the spices were whole except the vanilla bean and ginger. The vanilla beans had to be split, and the ginger chopped (but not peeled). Easy peasy!
The spiced simple syrup had to simmer for 7 minutes. Then I removed the saucepan from the heat to cool. finally, I transferred the liquid and spices to a sealed container and refrigerated them overnight. I used a cocktail strainer to remove the pieces the next day, and then I was ready to make my cocktail.
I always keep a couple of ice spheres in my freezer so there was no prep work involved there. All I had to do was pop them into glasses and make my stirred cocktail. A quick garnish with a cherry and a bit of orange peel, and I had two lovely Spiced Old fashioned cocktails.
Timing
This recipe doesn’t list prep, or total times, only times to simmer and steep the spiced simple syrup. Those times seemed to work perfectly, though. Here’s how the entire process broke down:
- 12 minutes to make the spiced simple syrup
- 3 minutes to make and garnish 2 cocktails
- 15 minutes total
This does not include time to cool and steep overnight.
