The Cocktail Alton Brown Always Orders To Test The Bartenders

The art of bartending is a unique one, as even the most standard drinks can be made vastly differently depending on the skill level of the person making them. For Alton Brown, this discrepancy is incredibly noticeable. So, before Brown orders his favorite cocktail, the Boulevardier, from a new place, he likes to order a classic drink to see just how knowledgeable and capable the bartender is in their field. The beverage in question is none other than the Old Fashioned, a drink that is as old as the concept of whiskey cocktails itself (that's how it got its name, after all).

Brown mentioned this strategy of sussing out a bad bartender in an interview with "The Eater Upsell Podcast" in 2015. During the conversation, Brown was asked about his go-to drink whenever he arrives at a bar for the first time, to which he replied, "An Old Fashioned." The "Good Eats" host continued his response by adding, "Just tell them to make one and watch how they do it, because it involves several different skills, most of them ignored."

Outside of Wisconsin's style of an Old Fashioned (which uses brandy instead of bourbon), the Old Fashioned is a fairly standardized drink. However, despite its simplicity, the Old Fashioned is still frequently messed up by bartenders across the country. The biggest mistakes made when making an Old Fashioned are using the wrong liquor (If a kind of whiskey isn't clarified by the customer, using a low-proof bourbon is the safest bet.) Adding too much or too little bitters (it should be two to three dashes, no more and no less), and serving the drink in the wrong type of glass are also common errors. Improper use of sugar (dissolve a sugar cube in the bitters, or use a simple syrup — but do not, we repeat, do not use a sugar packet), muddling fruit, and not using large ice cubes can similarly tarnish the classic drink.

Alton Brown was quick to admit that there are plenty of great bartenders who can make an Old Fashioned correctly, especially at the site of the Eater interview in Manhattan. However, he also noted that many bartenders nowadays prefer to use a different title entirely to emphasize their skills. "There are a lot of really, really good bartenders here. The problem is that most of them call themselves mixologists," Brown said, "That becomes sometimes a problem."