Why we love our Wisconsin 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 attempt to recreate without cheese), there are so many awesome foods I want to teach your about. So I’ve decided to start The Supper Club Series to share classic Wisconsin recipes and recreate them without milk when needed.
The first in the series is Wisconsin’s most classic cocktail: the brandy old fashioned. A traditional old fashioned cocktail uses whiskey, but here, we make them with brandy.
The reasons aren’t really clear, since most of this sort of stuff gets lost to history. 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.
Another thing that makes a Wisconsin old fashioned different than its more widespread counterpart is the “wash”. A wash is basically when you add soda or seltzer to a cocktail after mixing it. I’ve described the different ways we use this wash below, and you can choose whichever option you like best.
If you like this recipe, you have to try this related recipe, and this one and this one.
Searching for more Wisconsin inspired recipes? Pickled eggs / Booyah / Beer brats / Pumpkin beer cheese soup / Door County sour cherry pie
More cocktails fun: Wisconsin brandy slush / beer float / Pink squirrel / brandy Manhattan / golden cadillac
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- 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.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make a Wisconsin brandy old fashioned
Muddle the flavors. 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. Traditionally, Angostura bitters are used, but you can use another flavor if you want.
Add brandy and ice. On top of your muddled ingredients, add in 1 jigger of brandy (or a little more if you want). Stir the liquor around, and fill your glass with ice.
Top it off and garnish. Read below to find out how we customize and garnish a brandy old fashioned in Wisconsin.
More classic cocktail recipes. Hemingway daiquiri / Pimm’s cup / Bourbon sidecar / Penicillin cocktail / Clover Club cocktail
* dairy free recipe tip
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.
Sweet, sour or press: wash it your way
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. If you want to make a brandy old fashioned sweet, you would top your drink with lemon-lime soda like Sprite or 7Up. For a brandy old fashioned sour, you would use grapefruit soda, like 50/50 or Squirt.
But, my favorite way to make this cocktail is a press. Instead of soda, I top my drink with half lemon-lime soda and half seltzer water (or club soda). I order mine like this to cut down on the amount of sugar, but I also think it lets the other flavors in the cocktail shine through.
Garnish your brandy old fashioned like a Wisconsinite
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. 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 start. If you like and will use the pickled mushrooms, get those, too.
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 - grapefruit soda or seltzer water
Instructions
- In an old fashioned glass, muddle orange slice, cherry, cherry juice, sugar cube and bitters.
- Add brandy and fill glass with ice.
- Top with soda of choice.
