Irish Old Fashion

Happy St. Patty's Day!  Looking for a new way to have a little Irish Whiskey, Guinness and Bailey's today that doesn't involve chugging a whole pint before it turns into alcoholic cottage cheese?  Try an Irish Old Fashion.  It does take a little preparation before hand to make the Guinness simple syrup, but its worth it in the end.  And you can always use the left over syrup on your late-night flapjack craving.

Irish Old Fashion

• 2 oz Irish whiskey
• 1/2 oz Guinness simple syrup (Recipe below)
• dash bitters
• splash of Bailey's Irish Cream (Optional)
• crushed cocoa nibs (Optional)

To garnish the glass with crushed cocoa nibs, pour the Bailey's and crushed cocoa nibs into separate shallow bowls.  First wet the lip of the glass in the Bailey's, then roll in the cocoa nibs.  It's a little backwards to prepare the drink in a glass that is already garnished but this isn't your typical Old Fashion.  Add the Guinness simple syrup and bitters to the glass.  Top with plenty of ice, then pour the whiskey over the ice.  Gently stir to combine.  Cheers!

Guinness Simple Syrup

• 12 oz Guinness
• 8 oz demerara sugar

Pour Guinness into a sauce pan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce by 1/3 to about 8 oz.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved.  Cool and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If it last that long.

Jaffa Cake Old Fashion

Sup all.

During a weekend trip to the UK for the British (way to go Ernie) I had my 1st Jaffa Cake.  For those of you not familiar, it is a delicious biscuit (or cookie for all of you in the US or for tax purposes is it actually a little cake? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa_Cakes) with a sponge "cake" bottom and jelly orange top all covered in chocolate.  Back at home, with chocolate-covered orange peels in the cupboard, I had the idea for this variation of the classic Old Fashion cocktail.  I didn't expect much chocolate flavor from simply muddling a chocolate covered orange peel, but it really does add enough without overwhelming the drink.

The Old Fashion is a great cocktail that I won't get into right now, because I am positive there will be several more posts about them. I would like to address the bitters.  Bitters are a great way to personalize and experiment with this cocktail by changing the quantity or type.  I always feel traditional recipes don't call for enough bitters, usually 2-3 dashes. For me more is better but be careful it is easy to over do it.

Jaffa Cake Old Fashion

• 2 Chocolate covered orange peels (1 for garnish)
• 1 sugar cube (or 2 teaspoons sugar)
• Orange bitters to taste
• 2.5 oz Bourbon

Place one chocolate covered orange peel and sugar in the bottom of an old fashion or rocks glass.  Add orange bitters and muddle until sugar dissolves.  If needed add a splash of water to help dissolve the sugar.  Add ice, I like 1 large ice cube (or sphere) but any ice works (except crushed it would melt too quickly).  Pour bourbon over ice and stir a few times.  You do not want to mix it completely but rather create layers, so that that 1st sip kicks you in the mouth with bourbon but allows it to mellow and sweeten as the ice melts and the booze to sugar ratio decreases  Place the remaining chocolate covered orange peel for garnish. (I haven't quite figured out how to keep it from sinking out of sight, yet.)  And enjoy, ending with a nice buzz and sweet finish for "dessert" including the bourbon soaked chocolate orange peel.  Delicious.

Now take a look around your bar and kitchen and start experimenting!

Prost.