Welcome to Off the Eaten Path, a series where our Test Kitchen creator Noah Tanen dives deep into regional recipes. Next up? The Wisconsin Old Fashioned.
At bars and supper clubs all across the great state of Wisconsin, out-of-staters are in for a surprise when they order an Old Fashioned. Unless otherwise specified, the cocktail an unsuspecting transplant or tourist will receive is a little less whiskey-bitters and a little more fountain soda.
The brandy-based Wisconsin Old Fashioned bears some similarity to the more classic whiskey cocktail they may have expected. It will likely come in a rocks glass and include a sugar cube muddled with Angostura bitters. But there will also be a muddled maraschino cherry and orange wedge floating about the glass. It’s a sweeter and taller cocktail, with the washline reaching the top of the glass thanks to more ice and an extra splash of soda. Locals know that the way you order your drink determines what kind of soda will be used. Sweet means your cocktail will be topped off with lemon-lime soda (think: 7UP or Sprite). Sour calls for a grapefruit soda like Squirt, for a citrusy edge. Finally, press is finished with straight up soda water for those who want something drier but still refreshing.
To backtrack, the original proponents of the classic Old Fashioned were the early 19th-century equivalent of hipsters—traditionalists who pushed back against the cocktail trends of their time. With disdain for “fancy” liqueurs like curaçao or Chartreuse, they ordered their drinks the “old-fashioned” way—meaning, with just spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. At the time, that could have been any spirit, like rum or gin. However, by the end of the 1800s, whiskey began to dominate in the U.S. and eventually became the go to spirit for an Old Fashioned—in all but one state.
At the heart of the Wisconsin Old Fashioned is brandy, a swap that dates back to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. That’s where Korbel introduced their California-made take on the classic European spirit. German immigrants living in nearby Wisconsin were already familiar with brandy, and the preference over whiskey stuck. To this day, Korbel remains the default spirit in a Wisconsin Old Fashioned.
Consider this your guide to not being thrown off guard when you visit a supper club in Wisconsin. Even if you’re a diehard Old Fashioned traditionalist, as I tend to be, the lighter and sweeter Wisconsin variety is admittedly a better pairing for the deep-fried walleye and prime rib specials you can expect at the state’s preferred dining establishments. Just make sure you know whether you want yours poured up sweet, sour, or press.
How would you order your Wisconsin Old Fashioned? Let us know in the comments!
