How Did The Old Fashioned Get So Popular, Anyway?

The Old Fashioned is the OG cocktail. The first reference to it came with the first published definition of the word “cocktail.” On May 13, 1806, an edition of a newspaper called The Balance and Columbian Repository, referred to a cocktail as consisting of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar. The name “Old Fashioned” came about decades later in 1881.

A bartender in Kentucky made the drink with bourbon, bitters, club soda, muddled sugar, and ice. It was made to honor Colonel James E. Pepper, a prominent bourbon distiller.

So, it’s a cocktail that’s been around for awhile. And for good reason.