Updated September 10, 2026 by George Ciuciureanu, co-founder of Thirsty Bartender.
How do you make an Old Fashioned?
An Old Fashioned is one sugar cube, 7 to 8 drops of aromatic bitters, 4 to 5 drops of orange bitters, and a teaspoon of water muddled in the bottom of a rocks glass, then filled with ice, topped with 1.5 oz of whisky, and stirred for 15 to 25 seconds. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry, on top of the drink, not crushed into it.
The technique is the part people get wrong, and it's why the Old Fashioned you make at home usually tastes either like sweet whisky or like whisky with a sad orange in it. Done properly it's the drink that made whisky make sense to people who thought they didn't like whisky. This is the recipe our Old Fashioned Kit is built around, with the whisky in the box and every measure worked out. Yes, the alcohol is included. Order by 5 PM and it's at your door tomorrow anywhere in the GTA.
The bitters go on the cube, not in the glass
Here's the small move that changes the drink. Most recipes tell you to drop your bitters into the glass and stir them around, which spreads them thin and leaves you tasting them in patches. Our card puts the sugar cube in first and lands the bitters directly on it, 7 to 8 drops of aromatic and 4 to 5 drops of orange, so the cube soaks them up and becomes the flavour base rather than just the sweetener.
Then a splash of water, about a teaspoon, and a gentle muddle until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Mostly is the word to hold onto. You're making a syrup in the bottom of the glass, not grinding sugar into powder, and a few undissolved grains at the end are a feature: they keep sweetening the drink as you work through it. The bitters, the sugar, and that teaspoon of water are the entire foundation, and if you build it properly the whisky has something to stand on instead of just something to hide behind.
Stir it. Do not shake it.
Shaking is for cocktails with juice in them. An Old Fashioned is all spirit, and shaking would aerate it into something cloudy and thin, which is the opposite of what this drink is for. You stir, and you stir longer than feels necessary: 15 to 25 seconds, with the glass full of ice.
That's not just chilling. Stirring melts a small amount of water into the whisky, and that dilution is a planned ingredient, the thing that turns 40% alcohol into something silky you can actually sit with. Under-stir and the drink is hot and closed. Over-stir and it goes flat and watery. Twenty seconds with a bar spoon, and it opens up right in front of you. If you own one big cube, use it, because less surface area means slower melt and a drink that holds its shape to the last sip.
The Old Fashioned recipe
Yield: 1 cocktail
Prep time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Glass: Rocks
Ingredients
- 1 sugar cube
- 7 to 8 drops aromatic bitters
- 4 to 5 drops orange bitters
- 1 tsp water
- 1.5 oz whisky
- Ice
- Garnish: 1 dehydrated orange slice and 1 maraschino cherry
Method
- Place 1 sugar cube in a rocks glass.
- Add 7 to 8 drops of aromatic bitters and 4 to 5 drops of orange bitters directly onto the sugar cube.
- Add a small splash of water, about 1 tsp, and muddle with a muddler or the back of a spoon until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Fill the glass with ice and add 1.5 oz whisky.
- Stir for 15 to 25 seconds, until chilled and slightly diluted.
- Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice and a maraschino cherry.
Never muddle the fruit
Somewhere along the way, bars started crushing an orange slice and a cherry into the bottom of the glass before adding the whisky. It produces a sweet, pulpy drink with bits in it, and it has almost nothing to do with the cocktail this is supposed to be. The orange and the cherry are garnish. They belong on top, where the orange's oils meet your nose before the whisky meets your mouth, and where the cherry waits at the end as a reward rather than dissolving into sludge.
Our kit includes Luxardo maraschino cherries, which are sweet, dark and dense, and dehydrated orange slices we make in-house, which give you the aroma without the mess of a fresh wheel going soft in the glass.
The whisky, and the choice we give you
The Old Fashioned is a whisky delivery system, which means the bottle is not a detail. What this drink needs is a whisky that's smooth enough to sip on its own, because that's essentially what you're doing to it: adding a little sugar, a little bitters, and a little water, then getting out of the way.
Our kit ships with your choice of two. Jameson Irish whiskey is triple distilled and famously easy-going, soft on the sugar and warm rather than sharp, and it makes an Old Fashioned that goes down dangerously smoothly. Glenfiddich single malt from Speyside takes the same drink somewhere fruitier and more layered, with pear and a bit of honey, and no smoke to fight the orange. Both were picked because they suit this build.
Old Fashioneds for a crowd
This is one of the easiest cocktails to serve a room, because it's built in the glass it's served in. No shaker, no strainer, no bottleneck. Line up four rocks glasses, drop a sugar cube in each, run the bitters down the row, add the water and muddle each one, then ice, whisky, and stir. Four drinks in about six minutes, and the guests who claim not to like whisky will be on their second before they've thought about it.
For matching the rest of the night to the drink, our cocktail party menu guide puts the Old Fashioned next to steak and slow evenings, and the complete hosting guide covers the timing.
The Toronto part
Building this from scratch means a whisky decision at the LCBO, two different bitters you'll use twice a year, a box of sugar cubes, a jar of cherries you'll regret buying, and an orange. The kit turns all of it into one box at your door: the whisky you chose, Angostura and orange bitters, sugar cubes, Luxardo cherries, dehydrated orange slices, and the printed recipe card. Order by 5 PM and it arrives next day across the GTA, Toronto to Mississauga, Scarborough to Vaughan, Etobicoke to Markham.
Old Fashioned FAQ
What is an Old Fashioned made of?
Whisky, sugar, bitters, and a little water, served over ice with an orange and cherry garnish. Our card runs 1 sugar cube, 7 to 8 drops of aromatic bitters, 4 to 5 drops of orange bitters, 1 tsp water, and 1.5 oz whisky.
Do you shake or stir an Old Fashioned?
Stir, always. There's no juice in the drink, so shaking would only aerate it and make it cloudy. Stir for 15 to 25 seconds with the glass full of ice, which chills it and adds the small amount of dilution that makes it silky.
Should you muddle the orange and cherry in an Old Fashioned?
No. The fruit is garnish and belongs on top of the finished drink. Muddling it makes the cocktail sweet and pulpy and buries the whisky you chose. Muddle only the sugar cube, bitters, and a teaspoon of water.
Can you make an Old Fashioned with simple syrup instead of a sugar cube?
You can, and plenty of bars do it for speed. We ship the cube because the bitters land directly on it and soak in, which gives you a more concentrated base, and because a few undissolved grains keep the drink sweetening as you go.
What whisky is best for an Old Fashioned?
One you'd happily drink on its own, because this cocktail barely dresses it up. Our kit gives you the choice of Jameson Irish whiskey, which is smooth and easy-going, or Glenfiddich single malt, which brings pear and honey without any smoke.
Why is my Old Fashioned too strong?
Almost always under-stirring. The 15 to 25 second stir isn't optional: it melts in the water that softens the alcohol. If it still drinks hot, stir another ten seconds before you reach for more sugar.
Where can I buy an Old Fashioned kit in Toronto?
Order our Old Fashioned Kit before 5 PM and we deliver next day across the GTA. Sugar cubes, Angostura and orange bitters, Luxardo maraschino cherries, house-dehydrated orange slices, the printed recipe card, and your choice of whisky, all in one box. Sixteen drinks, from $139. The alcohol is included.
Sending it as a gift? The Old Fashioned Kit is the one we recommend most often for men who say they don't need anything, and it appears in both our anniversary gift guide and our housewarming gift guide. Add a free gift note at checkout and pick the delivery date.