Name: Honey Old Fashioned Cocktail
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 tsp Honey; 2 dashes Angostura Bitters; 2 oz Whiskey; Orange Peel (garnish)

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A Honey Old Fashioned is a quick & easy cocktail to prepare for whiskey lovers who have a penchant for the golden nectar produced by buzzing bees.

Our simple Old Fashioned recipe substitutes a white sugar cube for golden honey. It’s a popular whiskey cocktail to make during the warm summer months when local hives are being harvested by beekeepers.

Serve the drink in a handsome rocks glass with large chunks of ice and garnish with a citrusy orange peel.

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What Is A Honey Old Fashioned?

The Old Fashioned is a classic whiskey cocktail that was developed during the 19th century and was given its name in the 1880s. The drink is typically prepared by muddling sugar with bitters and water, adding whiskey, then garnishing with an orange slice and/or cocktail cherry.

We’ve shared several tasty rifts on the traditional old fashioned including a Scotch Old Fashioned Cocktail, Irish Old Fashioned Cocktail, Christmas Old Fashioned, Gin Old Fashioned, Brown Sugar Old Fashioned, and Chocolate Old Fashioned.

A Honey Old Fashioned simply substitutes a white sugar cube for liquid honey, giving the drink a distinct floral honey flavour profile. Decorate the rocks glass with a freshly sliced orange peel for a citrus-forward finish.

Our favourite time of year to shake up this Old Fashioned recipe is during the summer, when fresh honey is harvested at local hives and sold at local farmers markets. It makes for a lovely addition to sunny garden parties and backyard happy hours.

Traditional Honey Old Fashioned recipe ingredients.

Honey Old Fashioned Ingredients

This homemade Old Fashioned with honey is made with premium ingredients:

Whiskey: we tested this recipe with Canadian Crown Royal, Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey and Glenfiddich Scotch.
Honey: you can use any honey you’d like but we suggest a product with a thin viscosity rather than the thick variety as it’s easier to dissolve into the whiskey.
Bitters: we suggest using Angostura bitters but you could also use orange bitters.
Orange Peel: garnish the cocktail with orange peel. You can also add a maraschino cherry on a pick for eye-appeal.

Serve the cocktail in a handsome rocks glass filled with ice.

Directions

In a cocktail shaker add honey, bitters and whiskey. Stir well with a bar spoon.
Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.
Garnish with an orange peel.

Garnish a Honey Old Fashioned with an orange peel.

Honey Old Fashioned Recipe Tips

This Old Fashioned recipe is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes.

Our Honey Old Fashioned recipe serves one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a festive punch bowl or jug rather than a cocktail shaker.
A few hours before guests arrive slide your whiskey bottle in the freezer so it’s well chilled when you’re ready to build drinks.
Feel free to use use Angostura bitters or orange bitters.
Honey is the perfect natural sweetener to use in cocktails instead of simple syrup. You can also use agave or maple syrup if you prefer.
You can muddle the cocktail with large pieces of ice or ice spheres to ensure the cocktail does not dilute too quickly.

We love using Crown Royal Canadian Whisky when preparing this Old Fashioned.

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We love serving this cocktail in the summer when fresh local honey is sold at local farmers markets.

Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment

Before hosting a swanky Honey Old Fashioned cocktail soiree you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.

Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
Cocktail Shaker: a bartender’s best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.

Honey Old Fashioned Cocktail Photo Image.

Serving Suggestions

While you can certainly enjoy sipping this cocktail year round, freshly harvested honey paired with the sweet smelling aromatics of orange zest make this drink one of our favourites to sip on a hot day in the spring or summer.

We love to serve honey muddled cocktails at spring garden parties, summer backyard barbecue and as a happy hour drink on a sun-soaked patio.

If you’re hosting a celebratory gathering it’s important to pair alcoholic drinks with snacks so you can safely socialize for hours and hours. Here are a few of our favourite recipes to serve with craft cocktails:

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How To Make An Easy Honey Old Fashioned Cocktail

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