Josef Lorenz

Old Fashioned No. 5
Servings: 1

In 2024, I for some reason got very much into Tiki cocktails. Don the Beachcomber, the "founding father" of tiki culture, famously used coded names for his house spice blends when his bar opened in 1933, a tactic meant to keep bartenders (and rival bar owners) from stealing his tiki drink recipes. Over the years, some of these secret mixes have been decoded or closely approximated by tiki historians and enthusiasts as best they could.
While attempting to make "Don's Mix #1" at home I accidentally used allspice dram in place of Herbsaint/absinthe, a total mistake on my part. Seeing as how it didn't have a name and I didn't want to waste anything, I landed on "Don's Mix #5" as there is no such thing.
It's still an Old Fashioned at heart, but the demerara syrup and homemade bitters give it a subtle tiki twist and a few extra layers you won't get in your typical version.

Don's Mix #5
In a dasher bottle, add 1 part allspice dram (St. Elizabeth's) to 1 part Angostura bitters

Ingredients
2 oz bourbon (Knob Creek 12 works nicely)
1/2 tsp Don's #5 bitters
1/4 oz demerara syrup (2:1 ratio of demerara sugar to water)
1 dash orange bitters (optional)
Orange peel, for garnish

Steps
1. Add the syrup and bitters into a mixing glass, stir to incorporate.
2. Fill the mixing glass with ice, add the bourbon, and stir until well-chilled.
3. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
4. Express the oil of an orange twist over the glass, then drop into the glass to garnish.