how to understand your bartender, in one easy step

request an old fashioned whiskey cocktail.

bartending is a craft; as such its execution has as much to do with making the best of what's at hand as it does designing from the ground up for perfection.

case in point: this old fashioned.

my go-to bourbon is Bulleit. it's strong, spicy, and delicious with a good enough body to play well in all sorts of mixtures. recently, it's been hard to come by. at the same time one of our local booze reps was very kind in giving us a monster bottle of Jim Beam white. not a bad bourbon by any measure, but one without the strength, spiciness or body of Bulleit. the first test old fashioneds did not impress. not enough body? use gomme instead of 1:1 simple. not enough spiciness? i tried upping the Angostura, too much. i tried Fee's whiskey-barrel aged, way too much. then i tried Unicum. spot on. somehow it works with the Jim Beam white- just enough of a complex bitter note to compliment the bourbon but not dominate.  as for the citrus garnish, since Daniel Hyatt's old fashioned at Alembic i've been on a lemon instead of orange kick, either way i use two pieces- one spritzed into the initial gomme/bitters mixture then thrown, and another twist to finish.

so there it is, a Jim Beam white old fashioned that actually stands on both feet.

Old Fashioned (Jim Beam white)

2oz / 60ml Jim Beam white

1/4oz / 7.5ml gomme syrup (Monin)

7 dashes Unicum (using repurposed Angostura 4oz bottle)

2 lemon peel, one for syrup, one for garnish

-built in glass: gomme syrup, Unicum, first lemon peel spritzed in/ 3 cubes of ice / first 30ml of bourbon / stir well to combine / second 30ml of bourbon, do not stir / 2 or 3 more cubes on top making sure that the last cube stays dry / twist second lemon peel over drink, wave it over the rim and slide into the drink / serve.