That link redirects to some menu. But if your question is serious, the IBA specs are what I expect unless I ask for something different or if it’s a menu item that spells out different specs: Old-fashioned - Wikipedia
I was dining with someone who ordered a martini, specifying the gin. Bombay Sapphire or something. The waiter came back later and asked him if he wanted vodka or gin.
I guess it’s good he asked. I don’t recall if the drink was made right. I’ve had a few bartenders ask me how to make something, and I’d rather they do that than wing it. The first time I wanted to try a Last Word I just wrote down the specs on a napkin.
It is a link to the restaurant named The Old Fashioned in downtown Madison Wisconsin.
That’s your own fault. What kind of dingdong orders a martini in the caipirinha capital of the world?
I went to a friend’s wedding at an all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. The bartenders there somehow didn’t understand the concept of a “shot.” We asked for a round of tequila shots, we got 5 highball glasses filled with tequila.
I’ve been there! Anyhow, my follow up explains. (And on their menu, the classic Old Fashioned is made with Korbel brandy, which is pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of the quintessential Wisconsin old fashioned: made with Korbel brandy instead of whiskey – though both are common --, and often served “sweet” with 7-Up, although that is the drinkers option. Can you even order an Old Fashioned in Wisconsin without specifying sweet/sour/press/soda at the end of the order?)
I’m also pretty sure the first time I ordered an old fashioned in Wisconsin, I got the same look as if I had gone into a pizza joint and simply asked for a “pizza” with no further descriptor. Whiskey? Brandy? Sweet? Sour?)
I would not see this as cause for complaint.
Any bartender in any bar shown on Bar Rescue. Usually they can’t even draw a beer properly.
A lot of really bad bartenders/cooks/wait staff on that show.
Years back, even decades back, I tended bar at a place in Queens, New York. Nothing fancy about it at all.
We got our share of young drinkers. Up until a certain point in the night, plenty of old dudes, too.
Now, as it happens, I could have made a perfectly decent martini. An old-fashioned, too, and even a Manhattan. But nobody ever ordered any of those. Bloody Mary was premix – we had a big bottle we’d whip up as needed. We did get the occasional order for a Bloody Mary.
But in general, the rule was you could order a beer. You could order shots of anything you wanted. You could order any kind of whiskey on the rocks, or at least any kind we had. We weren’t big on single malts or anything like that. You could order booze with soda in it. You could (if you were a very young woman) order seven and sevens or some other disgusting kiddie drink. You could even order a gin and tonic. Or even a vodka tonic.
But something like a Long Island Iced Tea, or an old-fashioned, or a Manhattan, or a daiquiri or a margarita? One of two things would happen. If you appeared to be anywhere under thirty, you were going to get carded. And whatever ID you produced would be found unacceptable. Or, if you were older, your attention would be directed to the sign behind the bar that said “pain in the ass drinks $5 extra.”
I may be a Phillistine, but I’ll just have a vodka martian rinse the glass with dry vermouth and toss in an olive.
I’m LOLing at the idea of a three-ingredient drink being a pain in the ass. At least tipping for one is a lot less silly than for a beer or an X and Y highball.
Yeah, I was thinking the same for the moment, but then I remembered, there’s plenty of bars in my neighborhood where I’ve literally never seen a cocktail that requires a shaker being served, so I get it.
I doubt you travel as much or as often as I. In June we were in Phoenix, Hell Paso, and Denver. Upscale restaurants too. “Uh, is that a whiskey drink”. Over Labor Day I was in Minneapolis. Bartender at the Grand Hotel had to ask another one how to make an Old Fashioned.
That you’re right about. We were at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. An orangutan would have made them better. And they wanted $14 apiece for them! True story: An old man at the bar polished his off and said to the bartender “THAT, was by far the worst Old Fashioned I have ever had, and I am NOT paying for it!!!” and he walked out.
:rolleyes: Sigh.
Jebus Kripes!:smack: What a crock of shit!
Any bartender worth his weight will be able to make one in about a minute or two. Muddling fruit, using sugar cubes, adding liquor, ice, and bitters and then press isn’t that difficult.
(does everyone know what “press” is?)
Before beginning the bartender should ask what kind of liquor the customer wants (Whiskey, Bourbon, Rye, Brandy, or even SoCo is acceptable) and if they want sweet or sour.
A decent bartender should be able to pour the right amount of spirits without measuring but avoiding over pouring so the drink isn’t “boozy”. However, I do not subtract points for using a jigger. Any bartender that uses mix should be taken out back and beaten so hard it hospitalizes his mother. :mad:
Come to a Wisconsin rural supper club and see what a proper Old Fashioned should taste like. Celestial!
What about the hickory smoke, which seems to be pretty popular nowadays in some circles?
I was fascinated to watch, in a Calgary bar, the barman prepare an Old Fashioned. Then, he put the drink on a platform, put a bell jar over it, and inserted a tube from a smoker into the platform. Soon, the bell jar was full of hickory smoke. He let it sit about five minutes or so, by which time, the smoke had either infused itself into the drink or clung to the inside of the bell jar.
I didn’t have an Old Fashioned that night, but I’ve had them before. I’m wondering what I’m missing, with the hickory smoke.
A fad invented by some millennial who needs his ass kicked.
It is very dangerous to fuck with the Old Fashioned recipe when talking to a purist. And I am a purist!
No mix, no smoke, no artificial sweeteners in my Old Fashioned! Piss off with that bullshit!
Why the hate? It’s just a cocktail. 
let people enjoy whatever it is they want to enjoy, no matter what they call it.
Because there is a right way to do things and there is a fucked up way.
Just like the OP said one doesn’t put sweet vermouth in a martini, smoke and pre-mix do not belong in an Old Fashioned. Have the bartender piss in your glass for all I care. Just don’t call it an Old Fashioned.