The holiday season is upon us and it is a time to celebrate with friends and loved ones. What better way than toasting an Old Fashioned Cocktail? Employee Alex tried not one, but two Maple Old Fashioned recipes this week for our Recipe of the Week Series. They were both delicious! Read on for recipes and to see how they went and if you try it at home, don’t forget to tell us which one you chose in the comments below!

Just a quick disclaimer: Maple Valley does not condone underage or irresponsible drinking. If you are going to try this one out, please be sure you are over the age of 21 and you have a designated driver available.

Maple Old Fashioned Two Ways

Hello Maple Lovers, Alex here. Happy Holidays! With all the celebration going on lately, I was inspired to give our recipe “Ben’s Maple Old Fashioned” a spin. This recipe is a classic Old Fashioned with a twist, and the perfect way to enjoy a little maple in your cocktail. This simple version is easily accessible and doesn’t require any fancy bartender tools which makes it very appealing. This classic has recently come back into style and is right on time for the holiday season.

Here in Wisconsin, the Old Fashioned has never gone out of style. Because of that, we have our own set of rules when it comes to making the perfect old Fashioned. After trying the classic cocktail, I decided I also wanted to make a Wisconsin style version of the cocktail using maple sugar. So, I did both! Here are the two recipes for you to try out at home.

Ben’s Maple Old Fashioned

For this classic cocktail, only four ingredients are required (five if you want to garnish with orange). You can use Rye or Bourbon Whiskey depending on preference. I decided to go with Rye since I still had some on hand from the Campfire Sour recipe I did last year. For maple syrup, I decided to use our Dark & Robust syrup so I would get a stronger maple flavor in the cocktail. If you just want sweet instead of a strong maple flavor, I would recommend going with the Amber & Rich syrup.

The process is pretty straight forward and simple. As I said before, you don’t need to have any fancy bartender’s tools. To start, add whisky, maple syrup, bitters, and water to an Old Fashioned Rocks glass (a short tumbler).

After that, stir until maple syrup is dissolved. I used a fork, but any stirring utensil would work.

Once everything is well mixed, add ice and garnish with orange. Here is what the final product looked like:

Wisconsin Maple Brandy Old Fashioned

Wisconsin’s take on this classic cocktail is slightly more involved than the original version. If you ask an Old Fashioned cocktail connoisseur from Wisconsin what is required to make a proper Old Fashioned, they are likely to have strong opinions on the matter. Since Maple Valley is located right in the heart of Wisconsin’s Driftless region, and our syrup comes from trees all over Wisconsin, I felt I had to honor this tradition. So, using what knowledge I possess on the subject, I put together a maple version of the Wisconsin cocktail for you to try.

This one has a few more ingredients than the other old fashioned recipe. You will want to use brandy instead of whiskey. Also, maraschino cherries are an essential part of this version. Also, I decided to use maple sugar in this one instead of maple syrup. You could use either, but many people swear by the use of sugar instead of syrup, so I switched it up.

Start by combining a few cherries, maple sugar, a few dashes of bitters, and half of an orange slice into the same type of glass.

You will then muddle these ingredients until the sugar is dissolved and you have a sort of paste in the bottom of the glass.

Once you feel satisfied with the consistency of this mixture, you can add the brandy and stir. Add ice, then top with water (about 1 oz). Garnish with more cherries or orange if you wish. Here is what my finished cocktail looked like:

The Final Results

Amazingly, despite the difference in preparation and ingredients, the two cocktails didn’t taste very different. The Wisconsin style one was a little bit sweeter because of the cherries, but both were delicious. I guess it just goes to show that an Old Fashioned is delicious no matter how you prefer to make it! Recipes below. Cheers!

If you tried these recipes at home, let us know how it went in the comments below and tell us which one you prefer!