Gingerbread Old Fashioned

Name: Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: fresh orange ((for the peel only)); cinnamon stick; 2 ounces rye whiskey; ½ ounce gingerbread syrup; 2 dashes ginger bitters; ice ((ice for stirring, and preferably one very large piece of ice for serving))

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This Gingerbread Old Fashioned is a deliciously cozy winter cocktail. The flavors of ginger, cinnamon and molasses pair perfectly with rye whiskey. Gingerbread syrup adds sweetness and flavor, complemented by ginger bitters, but the rye definitely remains the star of the show. A cinnamon stick and orange peel round out the flavors in this delicious drink.

Side view closeup of a Gingerbread Old Fashioned cocktail in an old fashioned style glass, also called a lowball glass. The drink is brown and has a large sphere of ice in the glass along with an orange peel and a cinnamon stick garnish. In the background are a bottle of Bulleit rye whiskey and a gold jigger.

This is the perfect easy cocktail to make during the holiday season. It's easy, versatile and brings together all of the warmth and cozy feeling of Christmas and the winter holidays.

For more wintertime cocktails, try out this delicious and rich Aged Eggnog recipe. Or, this Mulled Wine with Brandy is a huge hit at Christmas parties!

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Ingredients
How to make Gingerbread Syrup
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Instructions
Frequently Asked Questions
Top tip
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you'll need to make this cocktail.

Rye Whiskey - the spicier notes of rye goes perfectly with the ginger flavors here. I used Bulleit 95 Rye Whiskey.
Gingerbread Syrup - you can use store bought or make your own (see the next section for homemade instructions).
Ginger Bitters - I love hella brand Ginger Bitters for this drink.
Orange Peel
Cinnamon Stick

Ingredients to make a Gingerbread Old Fashioned together on a countertop.

How to make Gingerbread Syrup

You can certainly use store bought gingerbread syrup for this cocktail. But, if you want to make Gingerbread Syrup at home, it's pretty easy to do!

Start by peeling a knob of fresh ginger using a spoon. After peeling it, cut it up into pieces. Then, add 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of water to a saucepan. Add in the cut up ginger followed by 2 tablespoons of molasses, 2 cinnamon sticks and a handful of mulling spices.

Bring everything to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer for 3 minutes. Then take it off the heat, cool to room temperature and strain it into a bottle for storage. Keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Substitutions

If you'd like to substitute some ingredients, here are some suggestions!

Rye Whiskey - bourbon is also delicious in this drink, as is any kind of whiskey. Dark rum, brandy or añejo tequila would also work really well.
Gingerbread Syrup - if you don't have gingerbread syrup, a mix of cinnamon syrup and molasses will give a nice warm flavor. You can also mix in some fresh ginger juice for a ginger kick. You could also use a mix of ginger syrup, cinnamon syrup and molasses.
Ginger Bitters - if you don't have the hella brand bitters, you can use angostura bitters. Or, Elemakule Tiki Bitters would also be delicious.

Variations

Here are some variations you can make to this drink:

Keto-friendly Gingerbread Old Fashioned - any Old Fashioned is pretty easy to make with low sugar, since you just have to use a sugar alternative for the syrup. Try out Jordan's Skinny Mixes Keto Gingerbread Latte Syrup, or make your own using a keto-friendly brown sugar (and skip adding extra molasses).
Gingerbread Cookie Garnish - instead of the cinnamon stick and orange peel, you can use an actual gingerbread cookie as a garnish for a fun twist!
Gingerbread Infused Whiskey - want to really up the gingerbread flavor in this drink? Make a gingerbread-infused whiskey! Add fresh ginger chunks along with a cinnamon stick and some mulling spices to a mason jar and pour in enough whiskey to cover them. Leave it at room temperature overnight (or up to a week) before straining and bottling the whiskey. If you leave it longer, you may want to take out the cinnamon stick and spices, but leave in the ginger.
Gingerbread and Bailey's - if you want something a little creamier, I suggest adding ½ to 1 ounce of Bailey's Irish Cream to this recipe. You can skip the orange peel garnish if you do.

Overhead view of Gingerbread Old Fashioned cocktail in an old fashioned style glass. The drink is brown, but light coming through the drink makes it look like a range of colors from amber to dark brown. A large sphere of ice is in the glass along with an orange peel and a cinnamon stick garnish. To the right are cinnamon sticks and star anise.

Equipment

To make this drink, you'll need a cocktail mixing glass with a heavy bottom, a jigger or small measuring cup, a long bar spoon, and a cocktail strainer. You'll also need a serving glass, and a vegetable peeler, paring knife and cutting board for the orange peel garnish.

If you're in search of a really great mixing glass and bar spoon, check out A Bar Above. You can get 10% off using my discount code, LKDrinks. They have a few different styles available and they all look great on a bar cart!

Instructions

Start by prepping the orange peel garnish. Use a vegetable peeler to take off a wide piece of peel, and then clean up the edges with a paring knife. Set it aside while you make the drink.

Hands using a vegetable peeler to peel a large piece of orange peel.

Hands using a paring knife and cutting board to clean up the sides of a piece of orange peel.

If you are using a large ice sphere, place the sphere into your glass now to give it some time to warm up. If you try to pour the drink in while it's too cold, it will crack and no longer be clear. (This is called "tempering" the ice.)

Then, start the drink by adding the rye whiskey to a cocktail mixing glass.

Hand using gold tongs to add a large ice sphere to a lowball cocktail glass.

Hand pouring rye whisky into a cocktail stirring glass using a gold jigger.

Then add in the gingerbread syrup and the ginger bitters.

Hand pouring gingerbread syrup into a cocktail stirring glass using a gold jigger.

Hand adding a dash of ginger bitters into a cocktail mixing glass filled with dark brown liquid.

Fill the mixing glass with ice and stir for 30 seconds, trying to keep the spoon on the edge of the glass so you are spinning the ice around. When you're done, strain the drink into the prepared serving glass.

Hand using a gold bar spoon to stir a brown drink with ice in it.

Hand straining a brown cocktail into a cocktail glass that has a large sphere of ice in it.

Squeeze your orange peel over the top of the drink, so the orange oils will be expressed over the top of the drink. Add the peel to the glass, and finish it off by adding a cinnamon stick garnish.

Hands expressing orange oil from an orange peel over top of a cocktail.

Hand adding a whole cinnamon stick to a brown cocktail that also has a large ice sphere and a parallelogram shaped orange peel in it.

Hint: Like a little more sweetness and gingerbread flavor? Just add ½ ounce more of the gingerbread syrup to the mix!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is in a Gingerbread Old Fashioned?

The ingredients are rye whiskey, gingerbread syrup and ginger bitters. The rye whiskey, which has a little different and spicier character than bourbon, is great for pairing with ginger. Also, many traditional gingerbread recipes call for rye flour, so using it is an homage to that tradition.

What kind of alcohol should I use for an Old Fashioned?

The traditional Old Fashioned is made with bourbon, so that's always a great option. Any aged spirit will shine in an Old Fashioned.

What is gingerbread syrup made of?

The base of gingerbread syrup is just sugar, water and molasses. You can also use brown sugar in place of the white sugar if you don't have molasses. When this mixture is heated with fresh ginger and spices, it takes on their flavor, kind of like making a tea.

Top tip

This is a perfect drink for serving at a party, because you can make it in advance in a big batch. Rather than stirring with ice, add about ½ ounce of water (preferably filtered or bottled) per cocktail to the recipe. Mix everything together in a large pitcher, and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

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