Rye, stirred
Toronto
Barline 2,q,1b,2,Ro
The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.
- 2 oz Rye
- 1/4 oz Fernet
- 1 barspoon Demerara syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir with ice until cold, then strain.
Rocks, iced, orange twist.
Taste
Two ounces of rye, a quarter ounce of Fernet, one barspoon of demerara, two dashes of Angostura. The Fernet is mint and bitter against the whiskey; the barspoon of demerara reads as molasses. Stirred, rocks with ice, orange twist. An Old-Fashioned with Fernet in the glass.
History
Robert Vermeire prints a Fernet Cocktail in Cocktails: How to Mix Them (1922), equal Fernet and cognac or rye, and notes that Canadians of Toronto appreciated it. David Embury, in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948), names it the Toronto: Canadian whisky, a quarter ounce of Fernet, sugar, Angostura. Modern specs keep two ounces of rye and a quarter of Fernet. This menu pours that, with a barspoon of demerara and two dashes of Angostura, over ice with an orange twist.
Same shape, other bottles
The Old-Fashioned family, with the bottle that changed.
- Old-Fashionedbourbon for rye
- Rum Old Fashionedaged rum for rye
- Scotch Old-Fashionedscotch and simple syrup for rye and demerara syrup
- Cornerstonecachaça and grenadine for rye and demerara syrup
- Improved Coctailmaraschino liqueur and simple syrup for Fernet and demerara syrup
- Sazeracsimple syrup for demerara syrup
This is one drink on my home bar's menu. Tick the bottles you own and the menu lists which of all 185 drinks they pour.