Old Fashioned Father
The Old Fashioned is kind of the patriarch of cocktails. It is most famous for being the libation that started it all by defining the mixed drink with four key ingredients; an aged spirit, sugar, bitters and water. The foundation of this beverage is usually American whisky or rye, but sometimes Bourbon, Cognac and even rum if you’re feeling adventurous. It is balanced, approachable and full of character, just like dad. Although my father wasn’t a serious drinker, he certainly was old fashioned, which is why I choose this spirit forward cocktail as my drink of choice when toasting to fatherhood.
Recently, my son and I went on an impromptu road trip. It reminded me of the many trips our family made driving from Toronto to Montreal cutting through farmland, spotting the cows, horses, and corn fields while looking for landmarks like Colbourne’s Big Apple factory. On this particular Saturday I had hopes of taking him to St Jacob’s Farmer’s Market in Waterloo. We never made it, we stopped at Springridge Farms instead because I saw the sign on the exit and figured we would grab breakfast on the way. You realize just how much further your dollar can go when you drive forty-five minutes beyond the GTA, the admission for Springridge is a mere 6 dollars and well worth every cent. In addition to the hay rides, petting farm, giant sand box, tube slides and hay mountain, they had freshly baked snacks ranging from peach raspberry pie to sausage rolls, leek and parmesan croissants to cinnamon sugar donuts. Locally sourced lunches for well under ten bucks and a huge selection of preserves, honeys, syrups and pickles perfect for a cocktail after the long drive home.
I decided that a welcome addition to my arsenal of cocktail ingredients would be the maple apple cinnamon syrup (although I was also tempted by the wild blueberry maple syrup which would have been perfect for my Mojitos and waffles!) That being said, one of my first memories as a kid was picking apples with dad in our backyard, it was a simple way to pass time together and today every time I smell or bite into a freshly picked apple my sense memory kicks in and takes me right back to that innocent moment in my life. In honour of time well spent with our little ones and good old fashioned farm yard fun, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on the impression we make when we create those memories for our kids and ourselves, and while doing so, fix yourself an Old Fashioned with your favourite syrup like the one I put together, enjoy!
‘Autumn Old Fashioned’
- 2oz El Dorado 12 year old rum
- .25oz Springridge maple apple cinnamon syrup
- 5 dashes Angostura bitters
- Zest of an orange
Method: Carefully slice off a zest of orange peel and trim the white flesh from the peel so that you have only skin. Give the skin a quick rub on the rim of a rocks glass and a quick twist to release the oils, drop it into the glass. Add cubed ice and pour all ingredients into the glass. Give the liquid a stir to ensure all of the ingredients are married throughout the cocktail. Garnish with a premium Maraschino cherry.
The Big Apple http://www.thebigapple.ca/
by Trev T
St Jacobs Farm https://stjacobs.com/
Springridge Farm http://springridgefarm.com/