Gingerbread Old Fashioned

Name: Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup water; 1 cup fresh ginger (peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks); ⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar; ⅓ cup unsulphured molasses (not the blackstrap variety); 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon ground cloves; ¼ teaspoon ground allspice; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 ounces bourbon; ¼ ounce gingerbread simple syrup (about 1 teaspoon); 2-3 dashes orange bitters; 1 large ice cube; Orange twist (for garnish, optional); Cinnamon stick (for garnish, optional)

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Let’s toast to this jolly season with a gingerbread old fashioned! Full of warming, cozy spices from a homemade gingerbread simple syrup, this Christmas bourbon cocktail is perfect for serving a crowd at your holiday party or sipping on a quiet night by the fireplace. You’ll also love how easily this Christmas old fashioned comes together — no advanced bartending skills required. Let’s start mixing!

Looking down at a gingerbread old fashioned with Christmas decor and lights around it on fake snow.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
More Holiday Cocktails
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Full of gingerbread flavor: The holidays aren’t complete without all things gingerbread. This cocktail is sure to put everyone in a happy, festive mood.

Easy to make for parties: Mixing one gingerbread old fashioned at a time is simple enough, but I also included options for preparing a large batch at once as well as a make-ahead option.

Made for bourbon lovers: Love your bourbon whiskey? With its simple ingredient list, this cocktail is perfect for anyone who loves a bourbon-forward drink.

Bonus: Can't get enough old fashioned cocktails? Don’t miss my chai old fashioned, spiced cranberry old fashioned and apple cider old fashioned! You can also check out my guide to festive Christmas cocktails.

Ingredients

Bourbon: With its majority corn makeup and oak barrel aging, bourbon is the sweetest option in the whiskey family with vanilla and caramel notes — all of which make it the liquor of choice for this Christmas old fashioned.

See: best bourbons for an old fashioned.

Gingerbread simple syrup: To make our homemade gingerbread simple syrup, we need fresh ginger, water, dark brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, vanilla extract and a touch of fresh orange zest.

Orange bitters: This botanic-infused liquor adds a complexity of flavor and balances our cocktail. I just love gingerbread and orange together, so I opted for that flavor here. That said, bitters come in a variety of types, so you’re more than welcome to substitute the standard angostura or another aromatic type, such as ginger or cardamom.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Let's start by making our gingerbread syrup. For this step, we combine our ginger, water, brown sugar, spices and orange zest in a small saucepan and stir to combine (photo 1). Now we bring the mixture to a boil (photo 2), stirring every so often to dissolve the sugar. After boiling, we turn off the heat, add the vanilla and let it steep for 15 minutes.

A collage showing the process of cooking the syrup in a small saucepan.

Step 2: All that's left is to strain our gingerbread simple syrup (photo 3), and we now have our flavoring.

Straining the syrup in a fine-mesh sieve over a sink.

Step 3: From here, we’re ready to make our drink. We grab a rocks glass and add our bourbon, gingerbread syrup and a few dashes of orange bitters (photo 4-6) and give it a quick stir to combine.

Pour the ingredients into an old fashioned glass on a white board.

Step 4: Now we add one large ice cube (photo 7) and stir again with a bar spoon (photo 8). We just want to chill our drink and slightly dilute. About 15-20 stirs should do the trick.

Adding the ice cube to the glass and the stirring with a bar spoon.

Step 5: All that’s left is to garnish with an orange twist and any additional spices, such as a cinnamon stick or star anise. Now sip away on this festive gingerbread cocktail!

Bonus: Make sure you also try my gingerbread martini, gingerbread mule and gingerbread margarita to get the most out of that delicious simple syrup.

A close-up of the gingerbread fashioned with sparkling lights behind it.

Recipe FAQs

Can you substitute rye whiskey for bourbon?

You’re more than welcome to substitute rye whiskey for bourbon. Both bourbon and rye whiskey are traditional when it comes to making an old fashioned. Rye has a spicier finish, which certainly works here -- I'm just a sucker for those sweeter bourbon notes with the gingerbread.

What kind of ice is used in an old fashioned?

One large ice cube rather than several standard-size ice cubes is best for an old fashioned. Thanks to its size, this kind of ice cube melts slower and doesn’t give us too much dilution. Sure, we want some dilution, but we also don’t want a watered down drink.

If you don’t have a large-ice mold, you can pick up one on Amazon. You can find tons of affordable options in different shapes to suit your taste.

Should you stir or shake an old fashioned?

Always stir an old fashioned. Generally, you want to shake cocktails with citrus, egg whites or cream, but drinks without those ingredients should be stirred. This gives us better control over the dilution.

Expert Tips

I highly recommend using my homemade gingerbread simple syrup. With the fresh ginger, it’s way better than anything you can buy. When we’re working with so few ingredients, quality matters.
As long as you keep the simple syrup stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it should last for several weeks.
An old fashioned isn't very sweet, so we only need a small amount of simple syrup. But you can always add more simple syrup to suit your taste.
While one large ice cube is recommended for best results, you can substitute standard-size ice cubes if need be. Just know you’ll get more dilution.
Don’t feel like you need to spend a fortune on your bourbon. A high-quality, mid-range bourbon, such as Makers Mark, Four Roses or Buffalo Trace, is perfect for this Christmas old fashioned.

Perfect Pairing

Enjoying this as a pre-dinner drink? It's perfect with my holiday pretzel bites, which are stuffed with cranberry and Brie, as well as my bourbon bacon jam.

If you're looking to serve this holiday old fashioned with dinner, you'll love it with my Christmas roast duck or maple-braised turkey legs. These rich meats stand up well to the bold bourbon and work beautifully with warm spices that we get from our syrup.

Or maybe you’d like some gingerbread-flavored treats. You can't go wrong pairing this drink with my gingerbread tiramisu, gingerbread ice cream and gingerbread pudding.

For the perfect Christmas bourbon cocktail, I hope you try this gingerbread old fashioned. You will love every cozy sip.

Cheers!

A gingerbread old fashioned with cookies and decor next to it.

More Holiday Cocktails

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Comments

5 from 112 votes (106 ratings without comment)