Wisconsin Old Fashioned Cocktail
With warm notes of cherry and orange, rich brandy, and a refreshing sparkle from some soda, the Wisconsin Old Fashioned is a flavorful and appealing cocktail.
The harvest season is here. And it’s always a reminder to enjoy great local delights. This can mean fresh crops like cherries and sweet corn. Or maybe local foods like fried cheese curds or pan-fried lake perch.
Or maybe both, like this classic Wisconsin Old Fashioned Cocktail. Coming with a few different options, I’ll take a Brandy Old-Fashioned Sweet, please! It’s probably the most common variation here.
What is an Old Fashioned?
Versions of the Old Fashioned cocktail have been around for ages. Rumor has it that it was first consumed in Kentucky in the 1800s.
At that time it was made with bourbon and orange peel twisted for a hint of oil. The Washington Post has a recipe for this.
Wisconsin pulled together its own take on the classic, courtesy of our obsession with brandy. Here, we start with muddled fruit, and substitute the bourbon or whiskey with brandy. Then a Wisconsin Old-Fashioned is topped with lemon-lime soda (to have it “sweet”), grapefruit soda or sour mix (“sour”) or seltzer.
The drink really came into its own in the Supper Club era but is served well beyond that venue. In fact, I had one a few years back in a New York City Packer bar. Still yum!
Drinking Brandy Old-Fashioned Sweet in NYC Packer Bar
Why You’ll Love This!
Tasty. With its warm notes of cherry, orange and brandy and a refreshing sparkle from the soda, this is a flavorful and appealing cocktail.
Nostalgic. Maybe put some Frank Sinatra on while you prep for the game!
Crowd-pleasing. This is a drink enjoyed by veteran cocktail lovers and newbies alike!
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes
- Orange slice. This creates notes of orange flavor.
- Cocktail cherry with a splash of juice, or natural cherry juice, or pomegranate syrup for the holidays. This adds to the light fruit notes.
- Sugar cube or a teaspoon of table sugar or sweetener like allulose.
- Brandy. Provides the boozy kick. Can also use bourbon.
- Ice.
- Soda. Lemon-lime, grapefruit, or seltzer. Provides flavor, sweetness and/or tartness, fizz and volume.
- Garnish of your choice. Such as orange slices, cocktail cherries, olives, sugared cranberries and even rosemary for the holidays.
Special Tools
- A muddler is nice but not required.
Step by Step Directions
To start, you place an orange slice, cherry/cherry juice, sugar and a few dashes of bitters in an old-fashioned glass and muddle them (crush together) with a muddler–or anything you have that will accomplish this (I used to use a small wooden spoon). Be sure to crush the orange peel too to release some of the volatile oils.
Top with brandy and a couple small handfuls of ice. Stir.
Top with your choice of soda (lemon-lime, grapefruit, or seltzer).
Garnish with an orange slice, cherries, olives or even sugared cranberries for the holidays.
How to Serve
When it comes to serving, the drink is great for cocktail hour or as a before dinner cocktail, with or without appetizers. And it’s especially welcome on Game Day!
But it’s also delicious with dinner, especially with rich, hearty foods like duck, ribs or pork chops. Think anything they’d have served back in the Supper Club days!
And I hear that cheese balls are making a comeback, so maybe pull up a cracker and a sharp spreadable cheddar. Or make a cranberry cheese log once the holidays are near!
Variations and Special Diets
This drink is already vegan, vegetarian and dairy free. But it’s a bit high in carbs. So for a low carb Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet, you can use a diet soda, a sugar-free sweetener such as allulose and even a natural, unsweetened cherry juice.
Now when I serve this for the holidays, I sometimes create a holiday version. I started by using pomegranate syrup/molasses instead of cherry/cherry juice–and then garnish with my easy sugared cranberries. It looks festive and the pomegranate syrup is so tasty!
Tips & FAQs
I used to use a small wooden spoon to muddle the orange slice, etc. Then one day, I realized that my cocktail mixer set came with a muddler, which I could have been using all along. So maybe check first if you think you don’t have one!
Need to buy brandy? I remember my father teaching me in college that you could never go wrong with Korbel.
Undecided on which bitters to use? Angostura is the classic, but lately bitters are becoming a craft product. So, you might also consider trying out a local bitters. I’m making a lot of use of a local orange bitters lately. Yum!
More Regional Recipe Faves
- Green Goddess Dressing from That Recipe
- Pâté Châud (Puff Pastry Pork from Little Saigon) from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Pierogi and Kielbasa Bake from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
- Shaker Lemon Pie from Jen Around the World
We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you’re at it, join our Pinterest board, too!
Wisconsin Old-Fashioned Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 slice orange
- 1 cocktail cherry with a splash of syrup
- 1 sugar cube or a teaspoon of sugar or sweetener
- 2-3 dashes bitters usually Angostura bitters
- 2 ounces brandy or bourbon
- 2 handfuls of ice
- 4 ounces lemon-lime soda
- Optional orange slices sugared cranberries for garnish (cocktail cherries or olives for the non-holiday version)
Instructions
- In an old-fashioned glass, muddle orange slice, cherry/cherry juice, sugar cube and bitters.
- Add brandy and a couple small handfuls of ice.
- Top with soda of choice.
- Garnish as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from original, published on Dec 17, 2020.
Yummy 🙂
Thanks Nancy–a taste of home!
I love a good old fashioned! This twist on it with brandy and soda sounds wonderful!
So good Karen!
I love a good Old Fashioned. I love the cherry in this!
Thats a good drink for a cold winter Christmas eve, it will surely warm me up
I love pomegranate molasses. I bet it gives your WOF real zing! And I much prefer using brandy over bourbon… I can really sink my teeth into this cocktail! (And actually have all the ingredients.) Mark and I decided that we would have some cocktail fun over the holidays (which start tonight at 5pm). Your WOF is at the too of the list!
I did really like the pomegranate molasses too. In fact I think I’ll be using that instead of the cherry in the future, not just for the holidays. Your extended cocktail fun sounds perfect, David–best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!