This old-fashioned cocktail is a modern classic by Phil Ward that will send any tequila and mezcal lover into raptures.
45 ml Calle 23 Reposado Tequila 15 ml Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal 5 ml agave syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters Garnish: orange zest
Preparation: Stirred, served in a tumbler with ice and flamed and garnished with orange zest.
Alternatively and currently preferred by us:
45 ml Don Montes Reposado Tequila 15 ml Sinai mezcal 5 ml agave syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Preparation: Stirred for 10 seconds, served in a tumbler with ice and flamed and garnished with orange zest. Note: With good base products without disturbing flavours and off-flavours, you don’t need ice cubes in the guest glass. This makes the drink too cold, too watery and too many flavours are lost. It is much better to serve the Old-Fashioned as a cocktail. And you can then do without an orange zest.
The Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was created by Phil Ward for Death & Co’s first bar menu in 2007. A simple recipe, based on classic models, yet innovative. At first glance, a simple Old-Fashioned doesn’t really seem innovative. But when you taste it, you realise how different the drink is from the usual Old-Fashioneds. It is not for nothing that it is considered a modern classic. At the time of its creation, bartenders endeavoured to use mezcal as a relatively new spirit in the bar as an ingredient. To this day, the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned is not only the most requested drink at Death & Co, but also the most frequently adopted by other bars from Death & Co. [1][2][5][6][7]
The Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was Phil’s third mixed drink in which he used mezcal, after a daiquiri variant and the ‘Cinder’. He doesn’t remember whom he made the first Oaxaca Old-Fashioned for, but it was a “right-off-the-cuff humdinger. The Oaxaca was invented in my favorite time of Death & Co. I feel like it was one big cocktail lab with a slew of guinea pigs – regulars – who would anxiously await the new works in progress every visit.” [8-106]
Mezcal is mainly produced in the region around the city of Oaxaca, which is why the cocktail was given the name Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. [3][4]
Sources
David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, Alex Day: Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails. ISBN 978-1-60774-525-9. Berkley, Ten Speed Press, 2014.
Emma Janzen: Q & A with Audrey Saunders. Imbibe Nr. 61, May/June 2016, Page 30.
Robert Simonson: Modern Classic Cocktails. 60+ stories and recipes from the new golden age in drinks. ISBN 978-1-9848-5776-7. Ten Speed Press, 2022.
Oaxaca-Old-Fashioned.
Recipes
2014 David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, Alex Day: Death & Co. Seite 3 und 273. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. 1 1/2 ounces El Tesoro reposado tequila; 1/2 ounce Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio mezcal; 1 teaspoon agave nectar; 2 dashes Angostura bitters; garnish: 1 orange twist. Phil Ward, 2008.
2014 Jeffrey Morgenthaler: The Bar Book. Seite 83. 45 ml reposado tequila; 15 ml mezcal; 5 ml 2:1 agave simple syrup; 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters; garnish: grapefruit peel.
2014 Robert Simonson: The Old-Fashioned. Seite102. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. 1 1/2 ounces El Tesoro reposado tequila: 1/2 ounce Del Maguey single village mezcal (Chichicapa or San Louis del Rio); 2 dashes Angostura bitters; 1 barspoon agave nectar; garnish: orange twist.
2016 André Darlington & Tenaya Darlington: The New Cocktail Hour. Seite 139. Oaxaca Old Fashioned. 45 ml El Tesoro Reposado Tequila; 15 ml Los Amantes Joven Mezcal; 1 Teelöffel Agavensirup; 1 Dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters oder Angostura Bitters; Garnitur: Orangenzeste;
2017 Dr. Adam Elmegirab: Book of Bitters. Seite 137. Oaxaca Old Fashioned. 45 ml Ocho reposado tequila; 15 ml Del Maguey San Louis del Rio mezcal; 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters; 5 ml agave nectar.
45 ml Calle 23 Reposado Tequila
15 ml Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal
5 ml agave syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Garnish: orange zest
Preparation: Stirred, served in a tumbler with ice and flamed and garnished with orange zest.
Alternatively and currently preferred by us:
45 ml Don Montes Reposado Tequila
15 ml Sinai mezcal
5 ml agave syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Preparation: Stirred for 10 seconds, served in a tumbler with ice and flamed and garnished with orange zest.
Note: With good base products without disturbing flavours and off-flavours, you don’t need ice cubes in the guest glass. This makes the drink too cold, too watery and too many flavours are lost. It is much better to serve the Old-Fashioned as a cocktail. And you can then do without an orange zest.
The Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was created by Phil Ward for Death & Co’s first bar menu in 2007. A simple recipe, based on classic models, yet innovative. At first glance, a simple Old-Fashioned doesn’t really seem innovative. But when you taste it, you realise how different the drink is from the usual Old-Fashioneds. It is not for nothing that it is considered a modern classic. At the time of its creation, bartenders endeavoured to use mezcal as a relatively new spirit in the bar as an ingredient. To this day, the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned is not only the most requested drink at Death & Co, but also the most frequently adopted by other bars from Death & Co. [1] [2] [5] [6] [7]
The Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was Phil’s third mixed drink in which he used mezcal, after a daiquiri variant and the ‘Cinder’. He doesn’t remember whom he made the first Oaxaca Old-Fashioned for, but it was a “right-off-the-cuff humdinger. The Oaxaca was invented in my favorite time of Death & Co. I feel like it was one big cocktail lab with a slew of guinea pigs – regulars – who would anxiously await the new works in progress every visit.” [8-106]
Mezcal is mainly produced in the region around the city of Oaxaca, which is why the cocktail was given the name Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. [3] [4]
Sources
Recipes
2014 David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, Alex Day: Death & Co. Seite 3 und 273. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. 1 1/2 ounces El Tesoro reposado tequila; 1/2 ounce Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio mezcal; 1 teaspoon agave nectar; 2 dashes Angostura bitters; garnish: 1 orange twist. Phil Ward, 2008.
2014 Jeffrey Morgenthaler: The Bar Book. Seite 83. 45 ml reposado tequila; 15 ml mezcal; 5 ml 2:1 agave simple syrup; 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters; garnish: grapefruit peel.
2014 Robert Simonson: The Old-Fashioned. Seite102. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. 1 1/2 ounces El Tesoro reposado tequila: 1/2 ounce Del Maguey single village mezcal (Chichicapa or San Louis del Rio); 2 dashes Angostura bitters; 1 barspoon agave nectar; garnish: orange twist.
2016 André Darlington & Tenaya Darlington: The New Cocktail Hour. Seite 139. Oaxaca Old Fashioned. 45 ml El Tesoro Reposado Tequila; 15 ml Los Amantes Joven Mezcal; 1 Teelöffel Agavensirup; 1 Dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters oder Angostura Bitters; Garnitur: Orangenzeste;
2017 Dr. Adam Elmegirab: Book of Bitters. Seite 137. Oaxaca Old Fashioned. 45 ml Ocho reposado tequila; 15 ml Del Maguey San Louis del Rio mezcal; 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters; 5 ml agave nectar.
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