I frequently have a unique problem: I like traveling to new places, buying bottles of local whiskey, and consuming them in the form of a good old fashioned cocktail at the end of the day. But I don’t pack a bottle of bitters or a tin of orange peels in my luggage, which means either I have to buy a new bottle of bitters every time (which is somewhat wasteful) or I need to wait until I get home to finally enjoy that bottle. Thinking that there had to be a better third option, I started searching the internet — and found some pretty intriguing options.
Trawling through Amazon, I found a handful of different versions of TSA-safe, travel ready cocktail mixes for making a good old fashioned cocktail on the go. Any of these will fit in your carry-on and not have the TSA folks raise a single eyelash over it. All you need to add is a bottle of local spirits and you’re ready to enjoy a good cocktail. But the question I naturally had was: are any of them actually good?
Today, I’m presenting them here for you in ascending order of utility and quality, with the best saved for last. So let’s get into it:
Mixxers Old Fashioned Premium Organic Cocktail Mix Packets
This packaging tells me that they really thought this through. On its face, it’s just a pouch of dry, granulated powder mix — but they impressively went to the trouble of making it so that the pouch itself can double as a measuring cup. (Which is handy, because you do need to add some water to this mix to get it started.) Points for ingenuity and making sure that you have all the tools you need in one place.
The color of the cocktail is cloudy, but just a little lighter than the whiskey itself. The flavor of the spirit comes through much more clearly and cleanly than in some of the other mixers I tried, but the old fashioned components are a bit lost in the wash. I’m getting some of the sweetness from the sugar content and a hint of the bitters, but all the water that was added to make sure that the powdered mixer did its job has watered down the flavor (quite literally). It’s a passable attempt, but I would have appreciated something with just a bit more character.
Mixxers Old Fashioned Premium Organic Cocktail Mix Packets
Rating: 2/5
Price: $12.99
Amazon.com Link
Alpine Start Campfire Cocktail Mixers Old Fashioned
Like the previous option, the powdered nature of this mix makes it incredibly easy to pack and store.
According to the instructions, the powder goes in the glass first, followed by three ounces of cold water, then two ounces of whiskey. The result, even after vigorous stirring, is a cloudy looking liquid that still has some undissolved granules of sugar left in the bottom. (Which is actually an improvement, as initially this was like a thick sludge at the bottom.)
The results, however, are better than they look. There is no noticeable change to the aroma, but the flavor is much more brown sugar forward with a nice level of sweetness. There’s also some good cherry flavor in there and a hint of orange that really helps bring out the citrus-y nature of the cocktail. However, I would note that I’m not really getting much of the aromatic bitters. I think all that sugar might have drowned it out.
Alpine Start Campfire Cocktail Mixers
Rating: 3/5
Price: $14.99
Amazon.com Link
SAYSO Old Fashioned Original Craft Cocktail Tea Bag
This version is the first of our options designed like a tea packet: all of the ingredients are stored in a little sachet that is added to your splash of water and whiskey, and then you take it out when you want to start drinking. It does add some bulk to the packaging, but the concept is solid. I definitely prefer a little extra bulk with real ingredients to a more compact powder.
While there are some elements that dissolve from the packet, the spirit remains fairly transparent and doesn’t appear cloudy. The flavors are good as well — the spirit comes through cleanly, and there’s a good level of sweetness and aromatic elements that really bring the cocktail together.
As ridiculous as it might look trying to steep your whiskey like its tea, this actually works pretty well and makes for a darn serviceable old fashioned.
SAYSO Old Fashioned Original Craft Cocktail Tea Bag
Rating: 4/5
Price: $16.99
Amazon.com Link
Hail M Cocktails Old Fashioned Cocktail Infusion Bags
When I started thinking about what a “travel safe” old fashioned kit would look like, this is probably what I had in mind the most. This isn’t some powdered concoction that mimics the flavors of an old fashioned — this actually appears to be a cube of sugar infused with angostura bitters, a dehydrated piece of orange, and a dehydrated cherry.
Even better is that the instructions for this are literally just “throw it in some whiskey and enjoy”. I definitely prefer these steep-like-tea options to the options with complicated ratios of cold water that need to be added to a powdered mix.
The bad news there is that this does take some time to marinate. The sugar takes a while to dissolve, and the flavors need some time to wander out into the glass. It’s slower than some of the other options on the page here — but sometimes that’s what it takes for a quality solution.
And in the end, I think this is probably the best tasting version of the bunch. Since there’s no added water in the recipe, there’s nothing toning down or washing out the flavor, which means every flavor in the bottle comes through clearly. There’s just enough sugar and sweetness to make this drink smooth and delicious, with plenty of fruit and a hint of aromatic bitters to add the depth and complexity that it needs.
If you are looking for a quality travel-ready old fashioned kit, then this is literally all you need for a delicious time.
Hail M Cocktails Old Fashioned Cocktail Infusion Bags
Rating: 5/5
Price: $25.99
Amazon.com Link