Elijah Craig Bourbon’s annual Old-Fashioned Week returns for its second year supporting the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, October 15-24. Sign up your bar or restaurant to participate by featuring Elijah Craig Old-Fashioned riffs on your menu.
Negranza specifically designed this Old-Fashioned variation as a way to reduce waste from the large amount of discarded citrus that a bar like his generates. He creates an oleo saccharum–style spiced citrus syrup by infusing peels from juiced lemons that would otherwise have been trashed. (He advises peeling the citrus before juicing it.) Combined with Elijah Craig bourbon and black lemon bitters, the resulting bright and slightly bitter cocktail has what Negranza describes as “some extra zing.”
1 barspoon spiced citrus syrup (see Editor’s Note)
1 barspoon spiced citrus syrup (see Editor’s Note)
1 barspoon maraschino liqueur
1 barspoon maraschino liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Scrappy’s Black Lemon Bitters
2 dashes Scrappy’s Black Lemon Bitters
Garnish: lemon twist and spray of absinthe
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir until chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
Garnish with lemon twist and spray absinthe over the top.
Editor's Note
Spiced Citrus Syrup Peels from 10 to 12 citrus fruits
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
2 cups sugar
1 to 2 ounces hot water
1/2 ounce Everclear
Add the citrus peels and spices to a large, resealable container, add the sugar, and shake to mix and coat citrus peels with sugar. Store in a cool, dark place for 1 to 2 days, mixing occasionally. Strain out the spices and citrus peels after all the sugar has dissolved. Add 1 to 2 ounces of hot water to ensure that all the sugar is fully dissolved and sugar crystals don’t form. Add Everclear to help stabilize the syrup.