Don Draper from the hit series Mad Men would not be happy with me for making this in large batch form. This pure, original American cocktail was meant to be sipped in the morning, at work. Since that’s not reality for me, I made this on a large-scale form—and I really like it! We pick fresh sour cherries every spring, freeze them in 4 cup bags for pie, and lucky for all of us, those also work well in this cocktail. Purist cocktailers, forgive me, but this is good!
Old Fashioned
Serves 20 (in a 10-ounce rocks glass filled halfway with ice)
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Peychaud’s or Angostura bitters (Angostura are more commonly found in local groceries)
6 cups club soda
6 cups Bulleit Rye Whiskey
3 cups TART whole frozen cherries
Combine brown sugar and bitters with 2 cups of club soda. Stir for a minute to make a slurry, then pour into a gallon pitcher. Pour a splash of water into the sugar on the bottom of the cup and whirl around a bit to get every bit of sugar. Pour into a gallon jug.
Add 6 cups of whiskey.
Just before serving, add remaining 4 cups club soda and 3 cups cherries. Swirl in the jug carefully and pour into a serving pitcher or bowl.
Serve with ice on the side.
You might want to have a small glass-size strainer near the drinks, in case people don't prefer cherries in their cocktail (again—the purists!)
Note: This may not make exactly one gallon, but this much whiskey is ENOUGH.
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