On the weekend I DJ at a lounge in Victoria called the Veneto Tapas Lounge.
They make up their cocktails using premium liquor and ingredients. Something I never really cared or thought too much about before unless I was drinking with Dave Sawchuk or my buddy Bob.
I’ve been playing Motown and chillwave records there since December/January of last year and I’ve slowly been learning about the bartender craft.
Right now Solomon Siegel and and Simon Odgen quarterback the drink menu in the lounge and Simon shared with me the art of the Old Fashioned.
The Old Fashioned is often considered to be the first “cocktail” and was invented in Kentucky in the mid-to-late 1800s. It was the drink of civil war veterans! Basically the cocktail is spirits, bitters, sweetener, water. Yum.
At the Veneto I learned to add some orange and lemon zest to the equation and delicious.
On the weekend I tried to track down some Bulleit Bourbon which is Simon’s pick for the Old Fashioned.
Sadly, the backwoods of Coquitlam could not provide and seeing as my old man was out of real Kentucky Bourbon I grabbed a bottle of Maker’s Mark (another good Kentucky Bourbon that is popular at Veneto: I paid $42 for a bottle).
The bitters for a Veneto Old Fashioned is easy as they use the mainstream Angostura Bitters. You’ll remember I found this bitters at Save-On Foods.
Start your glass with a sugar cube and a few dashes of bitters with an easy splash of bourbon. Let that sit there while you slice off two pieces of orange peel and one of lemon.
Get the knife in there and shave or cut away all the pith as its not delicious.
What you do next is what separates all the Old Fashioned makers as they have their way of adding the orange and lemon which I can’t really explain. You’ll have to watch Simon or Josh or Katie do it sometime. I tried to copy them as best I could at a dinner party and my Old Fashioned served… but they were no Veneto.
Muddle the the first orange peel in the glass with the sugar and bitters.
In a tumbler, pour two ounces of bourbon and stir with ice then strain into your Old Fashioned glass with your sugar/bitters/orange. Add two ice cubes (or however many you want).
Then you release some of the lemon zest in the drink and drop the lemon peel in. Finally you take your last orange peel, heat it with a lighter over the glass for a few moments and squeeze it into the glass. A cool little fireball should happen. Don’t be scared, be brave! That is the fun part. Then twist the orange peel and drop it in.
Your drink should smell yummy, like a fruit punch.
Then sip and get ready to get rose cheeked! This beverage packs a smooth but deliberate punch.
Go with yourself.
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