Oaxaca Old Fashioned Recipe
An Old Fashioned on agave: reposado tequila with a measure of mezcal for smoke, sweetened with agave syrup and seasoned with chocolate-chilli bitters.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 30%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Reposado tequila45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Mezcal15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Agave syrup7.5 ml (0.3 oz)
- Chocolate bitters2 dash
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir until well chilled and diluted.
- Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
- Express an orange twist over the drink and drop it in.
Garnish
Orange twist
What it tastes like
Smoke dominates the nose, the spirit is right out front and it hits hard.
The technique
Stirring. All-spirit drinks are stirred — shaking whips air into them and ruins both the clarity and the texture. Thirty to forty seconds in a mixing glass, the spoon tracing the wall. You are after the same ~20% dilution, just slower and under control.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Reposado tequila
- Tequila rested in barrel for two months to a year. The agave edge has softened into vanilla and cinnamon; you can swap in blanco, but the drink comes out sharper.
- Mezcal
- The Mexican spirit whose smoke comes from roasting the agave in a stone pit. It can stand in for tequila, but the smoke walks over everything else; starting half and half is the balanced move.
- Agave syrup
- Agave syrup. About a third sweeter than simple syrup, so use three quarters of the amount rather than a straight swap. It comes from the same plant as tequila and mezcal, which is why it sits so naturally with them.
- Chocolate bitters
- Cacao-nib bitters. Not sweet, and not to be confused with chocolate liqueur; it adds a dry cocoa depth to whiskey and rum drinks.
The Story
Created by Phil Ward at Death & Co in New York in 2007, it is widely credited with introducing mezcal to a generation of cocktail drinkers.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Oaxaca Old Fashioned mixed?
- It is stirred and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Oaxaca Old Fashioned?
- Roughly 30% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Oaxaca Old Fashioned be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Oaxaca Old Fashioned hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
The main ingredient here is also a dream symbol: Chocolate in a dream
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.