The Eastern Old Fashioned Recipe

Prepare your smoking setup. If using a hand-held smoker, fill the smoking chamber with a small handful (about 1–2 tablespoons) of wood chips and ignite them briefly. If using a makeshift method, place a small pinch of wood chips on a piece of aluminum foil and carefully set over low heat until it begins to smolder, or use a small metal sieve/tin-foil funnel to capture smoke.

Choose the vessel to be smoked: you can smoke the empty rocks glass or briefly smoke the mixing glass before stirring. Place the glass (or mixing glass) upside down on a tray or surface where you can trap smoke inside it, or position your smoking nozzle into the glass mouth.

Introduce smoke into the glass: activate the smoker or carefully direct smoldering chips' smoke into the glass until it is visibly filled with smoke (usually 10–20 seconds). Immediately cover the glass with a coaster or lid to trap the smoke and set aside while you build the cocktail (do not leave uncovered more than a minute to avoid losing aroma).

Measure & Chill

Place the mixing glass on a bar towel. Add 2 oz Four Roses bourbon, 0.5 oz demerara syrup, 2 dashes orange bitters, and 1 dash Angostura bitters to the mixing glass.

Stir & Dilute

Fill the mixing glass with plenty of ice and stir gently with a bar spoon for 20–30 seconds (about 30–40 rotations) until well-chilled and slightly diluted. This yields proper temperature and texture for an Old Fashioned.

Prepare Served Glass

Remove the cover from the smoked rocks glass to release a small puff of aroma. Add one large ice cube (or enough ice to fill the glass) into the smoked rocks glass.

Strain

Using a Hawthorne or julep strainer, strain the chilled cocktail from the mixing glass into the smoked rocks glass over the large ice cube, taking care to retain the smoke inside the glass as much as possible while you pour.

Express & Garnish

Take an orange peel and hold it skin-side down over the drink. Gently twist or express the peel to spray the oils across the drink surface, then rub the peel along the glass rim and drop it into the cocktail. Optionally, add a Luxardo cherry for additional sweetness and visual appeal.

Serve immediately and advise the drinker to inhale the smoke aroma before sipping to appreciate the hand-smoked profile balanced with Four Roses and orange bitters.

After serving, extinguish any remaining smoldering chips by placing them in a metal container or running them under water. Allow smoker tools and any foil to cool before disposal. Clean glassware and tools as usual.

If using makeshift smoking methods indoors, ensure good ventilation to avoid excessive lingering household smoke.