The Old Fashioned
The Original Cocktail? I have always believed that every mixoligist, whether inspiring or professional needs to possess an eclectic library of books on the subject. I have recently added The Old Fashion An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail, by Albert W. A. Schmid to my personal library. The myth surrounding the Old Fashion is one that, well legends are made of. Schmid has mixed together a story that can only be described as fitting for not only in his words, the “first cocktail”, but also fitting given the Old Fashion is one of the six basic cocktails as per David Embury and The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. The story goes, the term cocktail dates to the late 18 th century New York. Upon concocting a drink made with rye, bitters, sugar, water the bartender discovered he had no wooden stir stick he garnished the drink with a rooster feather and the “cocktail” was born. Schmid in his book claims that although the orig