No. 48Whiskey, Bourbon & Shots
Pickle Old Fashioned
Bourbon, bitters and a quiet splash of brine. Built for sipping.
The Pickle Old Fashioned is a stirred bourbon or rye Old Fashioned with a quarter ounce of dill pickle brine added to the sugar and bitters. The brine works like a pinch of salt, rounding off the sweetness and leaving a faint savory finish. It is the subtlest, most spirit-forward pickle drink on the menu.
21+Updated
- Glass
- rocks glass
- Method
- Stirred
- Time
- 3 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey
- ¼ oz rich demerara syrup (2:1, or 1 sugar cube muddled with a splash of water)
- ¼ oz dill pickle brine
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 wide orange peel
- 1 cornichon (on a pick)
- Glass
- rocks glass
- Garnish
- orange peel and cornichon on a pick
How to make it
- Add the whiskey, demerara syrup, brine and bitters to a mixing glass.
- Fill with ice and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Strain over a large ice cube in a rocks glass.
- Express the orange peel over the drink and drop it in.
- Garnish with a cornichon on a pick.
Bar tips
- Measure the brine: past a quarter ounce it stops tasting like a secret and starts tasting like a mistake.
- A big cube melts slowly, so the drink stays strong and savory to the last sip.
- Garlicky fermented-style dill brine adds depth; sweet bread-and-butter brine does not belong here.
Make it your own
- Swap the Angostura for celery bitters for a greener, garden-fresh twist.
- Use rye for a drier, spicier drink.
Bar lore
In 1806 a newspaper in Hudson, New York, defined a cocktail as spirits, sugar, water and bitters, which is still the Old Fashioned formula. By the 1880s, drinkers who wanted that plain original instead of newer, fancier cocktails were ordering it as an "old fashioned."
Drink responsibly. This one is for adults of legal drinking age. Want it without the booze? The zero-proof drinks are just as briny.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-old-fashioned
