Updated: July 14, 2025 by Michael Kahn. Published: April 3, 2024.
The Banana Old Fashioned cocktail is a sleeper of a beverage. I’ve made this for several friends now, who’ve turned up noses at the banana and ended up asking for more. A beautiful old-fashioned variation, this is one worthy of printing out and keeping on deck.
Table of Contents
This particular banana old-fashioned is really easy to make. No infusions necessary. The garnish can be made to go all out for an epic presentation and flavor, or you can keep it simple and just garnish with a basic peel.
Banana Liqueur
The key for this cocktail is to use a high quality banana liqueur. Tempus Fugit is a really good brand to look for, with their Creme De Banane Liqueur.
Fun fact: tempus fugit is a Latin phrase for time flies.
You’ll want to stay away from the cheaper liqueurs that use corn syrup and fake banana flavors – this cocktail will end up tasting less than ideal.
Selecting a Bourbon
Based on the banana notes for this cocktail, I ended up going with Doc Swinson’s Alter Ego Triple Cask for the Cognac and Oloroso notes.
It is a blend of 2 different 5-year old bourbons whiskeys finished in Cognac, Oloroso Sherry, and Pedro Ximinez Sherry casks before being married in a Cognac foeder (large barrel) and bottled.
I’ll be curious what other people experiment with and love using (you can check out this guide from Flaviar to find the best bourbons as well). Leave a comment below with your own favorites.
Banana Oleo Saccarum
If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate banana into cocktails and want to reduce your food waste, consider making Banana Oleo Saccarum. You can use this to sauté banana slices in or in place of sugar for other cocktails such as tiki style drinks.
- Get your banana peels and dice them up
- Mix equal weights of diced banana peels to sugar
- Ex. 100g banana peels + 100g sugar
- Let the sugar and peels sit in a jar overnight at room temperature, or for a minimum of 4-5 hours.
- During this process, you’ll notice from hour to hour the sugar is extracting the water from the peels and dissolving, forming a syrup.
- Once there are no more sugar crystals, blend everything together.
- Once blended into pulp, strain your liquid using a cheesecloth.
- Store the liquid in an airtight container.
Your banana syrup that has been created just by using the peels of the fruit.
Garnishing the Cocktail
I experimented with banana garnish of different level of garnish, from just an orange peel, to a slice of banana, torching the banana, and finally sautéing banana slices, which were the most work and yielded the best results.
Lighting a splash of bourbon on fire to glaze the bananas.
Melt some butter, toss in some brown sugar, and get a nice glaze going!
Secret bonus: Take your extra sautéed banana slices and serve them with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Banana Old Fashioned
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add bourbon, banana liqueur, and bitters to a shaker filled with ice and stir vigorously for 30 seconds or until thoroughly chilled.
- Strain into a double old-fashioned glass with a large ice cube.
- Add garnish and serve.
- Peel and cut banana into 1/2" thick slices.
- Add butter and brown sugar into a saucepan on high heat. When butter is melted, add bananas.
- Sauté bananas until they begin to cook. When they are almost done, add a splash of bourbon into the pan and light it on fire to glaze and caramelize the bananas.
- Blow out the flame.
- Fold an orange peel over a banana slice and hold in place with a bamboo toothpick.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
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I strive to paint vivid landscapes with my words, bringing the magic of far-off lands and enchanting aromas to life for my readers. Combine passion for exploration and the art of gastronomy in an unending ode to the senses. When I’m not traversing the globe, I find solace in the earth beneath my fingertips, tending to my garden and working on projects around my verdant oasis. MK Library serves as a beacon, guiding fellow travelers and homebodies alike to embrace sustainability, nurturing both our planet and our souls with purpose. Full Bio.
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Hi MK! This looks fun and easy – the banana oleo saccharum is also going in my recipes to try. Can you describe an ideal banana peel to use? Does the thickness of the phloem bundles matter? Thanks!
Ideal would be a banana that just turned yellow – doesn’t have brown, and very subtle hints of green. It’ll be firm enough to hold shape, ripe enough to have higher sugar content. I don’t think I’d worry about phloem bundle thickness too much, I haven’t noticed a difference.