When I moved to Milwaukee 14 years ago I learned a lot about Wisconsinites. They love beer, cheese, and a good Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet. I learned to appreciate a steak and discovered what a Supper Club was.
While my wheat and dairy sensitivities have made the first two more infrequent than I’d like, luckily the Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet has become a go-to cocktail. My love of steak has only deepened and whenever I find something that claims to be a supper club, I try it. I learned that nowhere else in the world does supper clubs and old fashioneds the way Wisconsin does. Tip: If you ever find yourself in Milwaukee, the best supper club hands down is Five O’Clock Steakhouse.
When I left Milwaukee to move to Manhattan (the city not the cocktail), I was shocked, SHOCKED that I could not find a good brandy old fashioned and that’s when I started making them myself. I knew what went into a good cocktail, I had ordered them countless times. That’s when I also decided to invest in a proper bar, another milestone in adulting.
Jump directly to my Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet recipe.
If you buy something through my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support! See disclosure for details.
What Is an Old Fashioned?
After Mad Men debuted the old fashioned cocktail had a major resurgence, especially amongst the hipsters.
While official origins are somewhat disputed, the old fashioned has been around since at least the 1850s and was created to go back to the basics of cocktail making. According to Wikipedia, traditional cocktail ingredients were spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. That’s exactly what is in the brandy old fashioned sweet, and then some.
The typical old-fashioned is made with whiskey, but what I discovered in Wisconsin is that an old fashioned made with brandy has a different, more mild flavor.
Whiskey is made from grain and brandy is made from fruit…so there you go. Beer vs. Wine (I’m kidding, but not really). Brandy is naturally gluten-free so if you order this out you don’t have to worry if you have a sensitivity, if you order a whiskey old-fashioned you can get gluten-free, but you’ll need to be brand specific.
Many people wonder if brandy is a sweet drink. It’s not sweet per se, although you can get brandy in different fruit variations, but it is usually sweeter than whiskey.
Why is the Wisconsin Old Fashioned Made With Brandy?
Fun fact, Wisconsin is the #1 consumer of brandy in the U.S. according to Korbel.You may know that Wisconsin is most definitely not the #1 most populous state in the U.S and I like to think its high ranking in brandy consumption is due to the unofficial cocktail.
According to the Green Bay Gazette (that’s pretty Wisconsin, right?) brandy became very popular during the war when grain was being shipped to feed Europe and it basically has stuck around ever since.
Best Brandy for an Old Fashioned Sweet
Korbel is the largest producer of Brandy in the U.S. and it is served in bars and restaurants all across Wisconsin. When using alcohol in a mixed drink, instead of drinking neat, there is no need to go for the most expensive top-shelf choice. Korbel is a perfect brandy for the Old Fashioned. If you are in Sonoma, California you can even visit the distillery.
What Bar Tools Do You Need to Make a Brandy Old Fashioned?
Muddler | Dissolving the sugar cube and breaking up the cherry and orange flavors are key to this cocktail.
Jigger | An easy way to measure, and part of any well-stocked bar.
Double Old Fashioned Glasses | The drink is in the name! These cut crystal glasses are made for this cocktail. They’re pricey but gorgeous and make great gifts!
Directions – How to Make a Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet
Place sugar cubes, 2 cherries, ½ orange slice in the bottom of an old fashioned glass
Add bitters and muddle breaking up the sugar cubes
Add ice and Korbel
Top with Sprite and mix
Serve with a cherry and ½ orange slice garnish
Tips
I recommend getting large ice cube molds – the larger the ice the less it melts and waters down the drink.
If you want to make a Brandy Old Fashioned Sour use grapefruit soda, like 50/50 or Squirt instead of Sprite.
If you are looking for an alcohol free version, check out this Virgin Old Fashioned recipe.
More cocktails to try:
Apple Cider Donut Martini
Brandy Manhattan
Dirty Chai Martini
DISCLOSURE: If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission, at no cost to you. I only feature products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. And because I am very obsessed with FTC compliance, check out my full disclaimer here.
“ 'Sweet' is with 7-Up, 'sour' is with Squirt soda or pre-packaged sour mix, and 'press' is half 7-Up, half club soda,” says Brian Bartels, author of The United States of Cocktails, and owner of Settle Down Tavern in Madison. “Most people opt for 'sweet' or 'press.
Steps. Add the bitters, orange slices, cherries and sugar cube to an Old Fashioned glass and muddle to combine. Add ice to fill the glass, then add the brandy. Top with the 7UP, Sprite or club soda, and stir to chill.
The Wisconsin variation came about post-World War II when liquor distributors in Wisconsin found a cache of around 30,000 cases of quality brandy that they sold, which became more popular than the bad whiskey that was sold during the war, according to the book "Wisconsin Cocktails."
If you want a more sweet Old Fashioned, ask for less bitters in your drink. Typical Old Fashioneds don't have much more than a splash of bitters in them. However, every bartender is different, and your bar could use more bitters on average. For example, “I'll have a Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned, extra sweet.”
For the unfamiliar, the old fashioned cocktail in just about every place other than Wisconsin is traditionally made with a whiskey, like bourbon, sugar and bitters. But in Wisconsin, brandy usually replaces whiskey — and it's most often poured over a mixture of muddled cherries, orange slices, sugar and bitters.
brandy: It's traditional to use Korbel (Core-bell) brandy in a Wisconsin old fashioned, but at the end of the day, any decent brandy will do. If you really can't stand to use brandy, just swap for bourbon. 7-up, sprite, squirt, or club soda: Totally your choice here based on whether you want it sweet, sour, or press.
Scan QR Code. For Recipe. More than a simple brandy and cola concoction, the Cuba Libre is a marriage of the robust Mansion House French Brandy with sweet cola and the tart lime.
Angostura is an aromatic bitters, but lean heavily toward cloves and dried cherries. I crafted our Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters (the name kind of says it all) to be what I thought were the perfect bitters for an Old Fashioned. Ours lean more on cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg with only a touch of cloves.
To this day Wisconsin buys copious amounts -- roughly a third of the brandy Korbel produces every year goes to Wisconsin. Now, if you remember, the liquor in the Whiskey Cocktail/Old Fashioned was interchangeable, so those brandy-loving Wisconsinites swapped out whiskey for brandy and the Brandy Old Fashioned was born.
Brandy's popularity in Wisconsin started when a large number of German immigrants moved here in the 19th century and couldn't find their favorite drink, brandewijn. This prompted Korbel to start distilling for the public in 1889. Small-batch local distilleries produce – or have produced – brandy, too.
It may surprise some to learn that the Badger State consumes more brandy than anywhere else in the United States. In 2019, Wisconsinites accounted for more than half of the worldwide sales of Korbel brandy.
An Old Fashioned is a wise order if you want to ease your way into the world of dark liquors — but don't expect these to taste the same at every bar. Old Fashioneds are a classic bourbon-heavy cocktail typically made with Angostura bitters, a sugar cube, and an orange peel.
An old fashioned is sweetened with sugar or simple syrup. The Manhattan's sweetness comes from vermouth. An old fashioned is garnished with an orange peel, while a Manhattan is garnished with a brandied cherry.
They also have distinct tastes. A Manhattan tastes slightly of wine, thanks to the presence of the vermouth, and it's relatively bitter. On the other hand, an Old Fashioned is slightly sweeter, although bitterness still plays a major role.
If the Brandy Old-Fashioned is ordered “sweet,” top with a splash of 7-Up or Sprite. If it is ordered “sour,” top with a splash of Squirt. If it is ordered “press,” top with a combination of 7-Up/Sprite and soda water.
It may surprise some to learn that the Badger State consumes more brandy than anywhere else in the United States. In 2019, Wisconsinites accounted for more than half of the worldwide sales of Korbel brandy.
The Old Fashioned is arguably the most well-known whiskey cocktail in the world. Essentially just a slug of bourbon that's been lightly sweetened with sugar and modified with a couple dashes of bitters, it's dead simple to make, but within this basic template is a world of opinions and flavor.
Brandy sour is made from locally produced brandy which is milder than Cognac or Armagnac, fresh Cyprus lemons or lemon cordial that give it both a sour and a slightly bitter taste, Angostura which adds intensity and moderates the acidity of the lemons, and soda water.
Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
