Smoked Old Fashioned Cocktail Recipe

Our favourite cocktail just got better! We’ve hooked up the Old Fashioned by adding smoke to make, well, the Smoked Old Fashioned. This recipe will be an instant hit at your next BBQ party. 

Ingredients

1 orange

3 tbsp brown sugar

300mL bourbon

Bitters

100mL simple syrup

Method

1. Set up BBQ for indirect cooking method on as low heat as possible - adding a few wood chips to start smoking. 

2. Place bourbon in a pyrex cup and place opposite heat source, closing the lid and smoking for 20 minutes - to infuse a wood flavour into your bourbon

3. Remove bourbon from heat, cover with plastic wrap, placing in fridge to cool and infuse flavours

4. Turn the grill up to medium-high heat

5. Cut the orange into wheels and coat each slice in brown sugar

6. Place directly over the heat and cook for about 1.5 minutes per side until grill marks develop - remove from heat and set aside to cool

7. Remove bourbon from the fridge when cool - add simple syrup and bitters and stir over ice until ingredients are well chilled

8. Strain into a new glass over ice, placing an orange wheel in the glass on top

9. This will make 7 single-shot cocktails or just over 3 double cocktails

10. That's it, enjoy!

Tips & Tricks
  • Tip#1: Create a foil pouch for the wood chips and poke a hole in the top and place over very high heat for 10-15 minutes (until it starts to smoke) and then reduce your heat all the way down to let wood chips smoulder.
  • Tip#2: For a stronger flavour, leave the bourbon with the smoke longer.
  • Tip#3: If you cannot have true indirect cooking, place the bourbon in a shallow dish and place in a bigger dish that is filled with ice. This will stop the alcohol from burning off and save the bourbon from heating up, losing that distinct flavour.
  • Tip#4: You can essentially smoke any alcohol. For lighter and “white alcohol” like white rum, tequila, vodka etc use fruit woods to impart a sweeter flavour, while “dark” alcohol like dark rum, bourbon, whiskey, scotch react better to a heavy hardwood like oak, hickory or mesquite wood