In Wisconsin, we love our brandy old fashioneds
We have a lot of unique food traditions here in Wisconsin. From these unconventional brandy old fashioned cocktails to chicken booyah and deep fried cheese curds, which I will eventually attempt to recreate without cheese.
A traditional old fashioned cocktail uses whiskey, but here, we make them with brandy. Popular theories are that brandy was more familiar to German immigrants and that brandy was more readily available during prohibition times, but I’ll leave the historical internet research to you.
Just know that you can order your old fashioned with either brandy or whiskey and no one will think twice about it.
The Wisconsin old fashioned is a choose-your-own adventure kind of cocktail, and that’s what makes it so fun.
→ If you like this recipe, you should try these: Wisconsin brandy slush / pink squirrel / brandy Manhattan
Ingredient notes:
- Brandy – Korbel is one of the most popular brands used for this cocktail in Wisconsin. Feel free to upgrade and use your favorite brandy. See dairy free tip note below regarding hidden dairy in alcohol.
- Bitters – Angostura bitters are the go-to option—they add that classic hint of spice and warmth that pairs perfectly with the brandy and sweetness of the drink. But if you’re feeling adventurous, you could try orange bitters for a touch of citrus, or even cherry bitters to bring out the cocktail’s fruity side.
- Sugar cubes – The classic way to sweeten this cocktail is to muddle with a sugar cube, you can granulated sugar (about ½ to 1 teaspoon) or a simple syrup to sweeten if you prefer.
- Oranges – Just a basic navel orange will work, sliced in half moon bar slices.
- Cherries – Go for maraschino cherries—they’re the most common and traditional. A lot of Wisconsinites use the cherries from their cherry bounce (brandy soaked local sour cherries) to elevate their old fashioneds but you can use Luxardo cherries—they are the most similar to the cherries you would find in cherry bounce.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Sweet, sour or press?
To make this a true Wisconsin style old fashioned, you have a two traditional choices once you muddle your drink, add your liquor and ice. Sweet or sour.
- Sweet – Top your drink with lemon-lime soda, like Sprite or 7Up.
- Sour – Use grapefruit soda, like 50/50 or Squirt.
- Press – This option uses half lemon-lime soda and half seltzer water.
I order mine press to cut down on the amount of sugar, but I also think it lets the other flavors in the cocktail shine through. Try it each way to see what you like!
Choose your garnish:
Regardless of how you like your old fashioned, there’s one thing you don’t want to skip, and that’s the garnish. If you order an old fashioned at a bar in Wisconsin, you’ll be asked what kind of garnish you want:
- Maraschino cherries
- Green olives
- Pickled mushrooms or Brussels sprouts
Cherries are an obvious choice, and what I always go with, but lots of people choose olives or pickled mushrooms. Good bars will even stock pickled Brussels sprouts, so you could choose that as well.
If you’re making these drinks at home, cherries and olives are a great place to start.
Is there milk in my booze?
Not all alcohol is dairy free. Please make sure you’re choosing brands that aren’t processed using milk products. I normally reference this site’s database to see if the product I’m looking for is vegan, or to see if there’s a safe alternative. In this case, Korbel brandy, one of Wisconsin’s more popular brands, isn’t vegan friendly, so I’ve chosen a different option. This is a great please to search for vegan friendly alcohol.
Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned
Ingredients
- 1 orange slice
- 1 maraschino cherry + 1 teaspoon cherry juice
- 1 sugar cube
- 4 – 6 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 1/2 ounces brandy
- ice
- lemon-lime soda, grapefruit soda or seltzer water
Instructions
- Muddle the fruit. In an old fashioned glass, muddle an orange slice, maraschino cherry with a little bit of grenadine from the jar, sugar cube and a few dashes of bitters.
- Add brandy and ice. On top of your muddled ingredients, add in 1 ½ ounces of brandy (or a little more if you want). Stir the liquor around, and fill your glass with ice.
- Garnish and serve. Fill the remaining space in your glass with the soda and top with your desired garnish. Read below to find out how we customize and garnish a brandy old fashioned in Wisconsin.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
My best friend I’d from and lives in WI, and the first time I visited, we went out for fish fry Friday and my very first Brandy Old Fashioned sweet. And I’m hooked, that’s all I drank for a week, still drinking them. Mmmmm
No self respecting Wisconsinite would be caught serving a brandy old fashioned sweet with Aristocrat brandy. Real Wisconsinites use Korbel brandy. Just saying.
Love this recipe! It’s exactly what you’ll get in a traditional Wisconsin supper club. We visited Walworth County last summer to check out all the beautiful display gardens and after a day of hiking, a brandy fashioned and fish fry hit the spot!
I’m finding that brandy is very under-appreciated, especially with all the bourbon snobs out there. Brandy Old Fashioned is the only way to go unless you are a flatlander from Chicago where they only make them with bourbon.
Not sure why I’ve taken an interest in cocktails; I usually drink beer. But Wisconsin Old-Fashioneds somehow came on my radar screen. 🙂 Is Fresca okay for the top-up, or does it need to be Sprite, 7-Up, or Squirt? I made one the other night but all I had was Canada Dry diet ginger ale; it worked, but I think club soda would have been better. I also didn’t have the right glassware, but I’ve ordered some and it gets here tomorrow so I can try again. (I have E&J VS brandy, I didn’t see Korbel at the liquor store but I probably just missed it) Thanks.
You could use a Fresca, it would be a good replacement for Squirt, giving you an brandy old fashioned sour. The glassware is probably the least important factor, there are a lot of bars around here that will make you a double old fashioned in a pint glass. Feel free to use whatever brandy you have on hand, you could even substitute a whiskey for a whiskey old fashioned!
Thanks for all the amazing ways to make an old fashion. I live in Wisconsin and I would like to make old fashions for a party I’m having . This helps a lot since I’ve never made these before.
I know it’s totally rude, but I like my old fashioned with agave nectar instead of a sugar cube. OBTW I was born and rasied in SE WI and still live here.
That’s not rude! I love that, and you don’t get any sugar bits then! I will have to try that sometime. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
What a great recipe. I added a twist with mine. I used pear brandy that I made with Korbel Extra Smooth from my own trees and tart cherries that we picked from Door County. All I can say is WOW!
Made these today – delish!