The Wisconsin Old Fashioned: A Story of Brandy, Ingenuity, and Belonging

If you ask ten Wisconsinites how they take their Old Fashioned, you’ll get ten different answers: sweet, sour, press, with brandy instead of bourbon. But order one outside the state and you’ll often be met with a raised eyebrow. The Wisconsin Old Fashioned is less a cocktail and more a cultural marker, as stitched into the fabric of the state as Friday fish fry or Sunday church bells. 

The story begins not in Milwaukee or Madison, but at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. That is where the Korbel brothers introduced their California brandy to the American market. Among the fairgoers were waves of German immigrants who had settled across Wisconsin. They tasted this mellow, fruit-forward spirit and thought: this feels familiar. Brandy reminded them of the schnapps and fruit distillates of the old country. It was less sharp than whiskey and more forgiving on the tongue after a long day in the fields or at the mill.

Fast forward fifty years. World War II had choked supply lines and rationed grains. Whiskey was scarce. Gin was rough. But in Wisconsin, tavern owners struck gold: 30,000 barrels of Korbel brandy became available, a windfall that would forever change the state’s drinking culture. Bartenders poured it into the Old Fashioned template, topping it with soda (or Sprite, when it arrived), muddling fruit, and sweetening to taste. Out of necessity, a new tradition was born.

It stuck. Why? Because it fit. Wisconsin is a place that favors community over ceremony. A brandy Old Fashioned is smoother, less stiff than its bourbon cousin. It invites you to stay for another round, to linger over supper, to let conversation breathe. It became the unofficial handshake of the supper club.

At Baraboo Supper Club here in Boise, we pour our Wisconsin Old Fashioned with Korbel brandy, a simple syrup backbone, Angostura bitters, and the classic orange wedge and cherry. Order it sweet, and it comes with Sprite. Ask for sour, and we’ll sharpen it with citrus. Feeling noncommittal? Go press, half soda and half Sprite. Each option carries a whisper of Wisconsin’s ritual, where personal preference became tradition.

And while the recipe has traveled far from its birthplace, the soul of the drink remains the same. It is less about what is in the glass and more about what happens around it. Families raising a toast at a wedding. Friends gathered after deer season. Strangers at the bar becoming not-so-strange by the time the second round hits.

The Wisconsin Old Fashioned is proof that scarcity can seed abundance, that tradition can spring from chance, and that sometimes the best way to keep warm through a long winter is a little brandy, a little sugar, and good company.

So, when you sip it here in Boise, know you are not just drinking a cocktail. You are sharing a story that stretches back more than a century, carried in orange peel and cherry, passed down one supper club table at a time.

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Food Pairing:

Wisconsin Old Fashioned + Cider-Brined Pork Chop

Brandy meets maple. Our classic Wisconsin Old Fashioned pairs perfectly with a cider-brined pork chop finished in brown butter and maple glaze. A Midwest tradition reborn on the plate and in the glass.