The certified whisky expert gives us the recipe for the perfect Old Fashioned.
To nobody’s surprise, THE Drink for Emma Cookson, a bartender from specialist venue Whisky & Alement, was (of course) a whisk(e)y-based cocktail. Her first sip of this influential drink not only spurred a love of bartending, but also a lifelong love affair with whisk(e)y.
“I started in the dodgiest, worst karaoke nightclub venue that you could possibly imagine,” says Emma. “It was the kind of place where you start at the bottom. I was studying at uni, so I would bartend as a way of paying the bills.”
It wasn’t until her then-manager introduced her to the Melbourne Bartender Exchange, a hospitality group on Facebook, that her interest in fine spirits took off. “My manager told me that through this group you can go to tastings and brands will give you stuff to try for free and they’ll talk to you about the product. I was like free information AND drinks? Who’s going to say no to that?” she laughs. “I started going to tastings and events and meeting brand ambassadors – I’ve always loved stories and the stories behind the brands – so that was the start of my journey.”
If you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting her before, Emma is a bartender, whisk(e)y expert and self-professed sweet tooth. She’s worked in some fab Melbourne venues, like Camberwell’s Bar None and Fitzroy’s Poly Bar, building up her cocktail repertoire and spirit knowledge along the way. These days, however, her smiling face can be found behind the bar of Whisky & Alement in Melbourne’s CBD.
But what triggered this move into whisk(e)y? Why did she jump from a part-time uni job to a full-on career in hospo? That moment for Emma came while attending one of her very first cocktail competitions, watching a mate compete in the finals. “It was for Woodford Reserve Bourbon and it was a competition to see who could make the best Old Fashioned. At the event, they were handing out free Old Fashioned cocktails. So I said to myself, you’re here, you’re not driving, you may as well have a drink,” Emma recalls. “It’s funny because I didn’t really like whisk(e)y at the time, I was just coming to support my friend. So I tried it and was like, oh! This isn’t shit! Maybe I don’t hate whisk(e)y! I was super intrigued. There was more to whisk(e)y than I first realised.”
After that fateful event, Emma decided to visit some of the other competitors in their respective bars. It was at one of these that Joey Tai (now the bartender at Melbourne institution Flowerdrum) made her another mind-blowing Old Fashioned. From there, Emma embarked on some serious Old Fashioned research, trying it with every type of whisk(e)y she could.
“I was using the Old Fashioned cocktail to try different whiskies, so I could try it without having the big harshness of having it neat. Then I moved to a whisk(e)y on ice, and then neat, and now it is straight out of the barrel as raw and unfiltered as possible,” laughs Emma.
“It’s weird to think that without that Old Fashioned experience, I probably wouldn't have such a fondness for whisk(e)y now and would still probably hate it.’
If you’d like to make a perfect Old Fashioned like Emma the whisk(e)y whisperer, watch the video, then have a read through her top tips below.
Ingredients
60mL rye whisky
7mL sugar syrup
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters 1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters Garnish: orange twist
Method
Place all ingredients into a mixing glass Fill the mixing glass with as much ice as will fit and give it three quick stirs – this will pre-dilute the whisky, the key to a perfect Old Fashioned (and contrary to popular belief, more ice actually leads to less dilution, rather than more) Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice Use a peeler to remove a strip of orange peel from your orange Express the oils by bending and squeezing the orange peel over the top of the glass (orange side out), then briefly rub the peel around the rim of the glass before twisting and placing in the glass
Emma's top tips
An Old Fashioned is a bar staple. There’s not a single bar in Australia that doesn’t have at least a few Old Fashioned cocktail tickets per night. Perhaps it’s because an Old Fashioned is a consistent yet flexible flavour – changing the whisk(e)y base to your taste.
“The traditional Old Fashioned is always made with an American whiskey like a Bourbon, but I think there are so many Scotch whiskies suited to it too,” Emma explains. “Being a sweet tooth, I do tend to go for the American ones, but I think smoky ones are really great as well. Obviously, smoky whisky can be very confronting for a lot of people, so having it in an Old Fashioned is a little bit more approachable.”
It’s a drink that you can really tailor to your taste. For example, if you like your drinks a little on the sweeter, more caramel side – mix your Old Fashioned with Bourbon. If you prefer a smokier, edgier drink, sub in some Islay Scotch whisky instead. Want to give Emma’s spicier Old Fashioned a go? Try it with rye whiskey. As Emma says, don’t be afraid to try different styles in your Old Fashioned cocktails to find which one you like best.
Another tidbit of advice from Emma is to make sure your orange peel garnish isn’t soggy. “The orange peel is so important because there are so many oils in the skin. Please avoid soggy oranges. You want it to have a bit of firmness to it,” Emma explains.
Emma’s last tip? Whack on some tunes. “Not going to lie, I think whisk(e)y should be consumed with Creedence Clearwater Revival. Any of the Creedence albums will do, but I feel like Have you ever seen the rain? is definitely perfect whisk(e)y sipping.”
