You know what's delicious? The timeless combination of the oh-so-complementary flavors of orange, cherry and bourbon or brandy (who says you have to choose). You know what's not delicious? Drinking syrup. All too often, I find bars serving Old Fashioneds that taste sweet and processed beyond belief. So how do we give this classic cocktail the respect it deserves? We use a decent bourbon or brandy, fresh ingredients and low sugar options. This post is about one of my favorite spins on the timeless Old Fashioned cocktail but I encourage you to try your own!

Why did I get so inspired to make a cocktail on a Sunday afternoon while catching up on work in pajamas? Because I found Amarena cherries at Eataly and was overly excited about finally hunting them down. I came across this amazing alternative to Maraschino cherries at a cocktail class with Eat, Drink, Educate and have been trying to find them for sale in the US ever since. Amarena cherries are made from smaller, sour black cherries, are not saturated with corn syrup (yipee!) and actually have an authentic sour cherry flavor. Thank you, Italy. I have since then found out that the same cherries are available on Amazon if you want to give them a try for yourself.

The fresh squeezed clementine juice makes this cocktail wonderfully refreshing while the Izze soda and Amarena cherry syrup are sweet enough that you don't need to use any added sugar. The result is dangerously drinkable:

The Clementine Old Fashioned

2 oz bourbon (or brandy)
Juice of 1 clementine
1 Amarena cherry with 1 tbsp syrup
3 dashes of Angustura bitters
1/2 clementine Izze

Add bourbon, clementine juice, bitters and several ice cubes to shaker. Shake until frosted and strain into rocks glass with a couple of ice cubes. Add Amarena cherry/syrup and stir. Top with clementine Izze and enjoy while partaking in your favorite mustachey activities.