Over the years, fans of Wisconsin’s signature cocktail, the brandy old fashioned, have contrived many ways to make this tasty drink portable with mixed results. It’s been about a year since Philly’s Premium Beverages in Grafton began selling its reliably delicious, ready-to-drink old fashioned. All that’s left for consumers to decide is “sweet” or “sour.”
Owner Phil Orlenko found himself between jobs and decided to launch a new business. “For years my friends had been telling me, ‘You should bottle this’ when they would have one of my homemade old fashioneds. So, that’s what I did,” he explains. Making that choice may have been the easiest part of launching his business.
The first step was figuring out how to duplicate Orlenko’s recipes on an industrial scale. Then began the arduous process of having his recipe approved by the federal government. Orlenko had to show proof that an old fashioned made with brandy was a legitimate regional cocktail variation. “There is an official list of federally approved cocktails, and only the whiskey old fashioned is on it. So we had to send newspapers and other documents that showed they really are made with brandy too,” said Orlenko. “There are a lot of interesting and arcane rules in the liquor laws.”
In addition to brandy or whiskey old fashioned ready-to-drink cocktails, Orlenko also sells his own version of egg crème liqueurs. His original recipe came from a friend some 20 years ago, but the seven Philly’s Premium versions available bear Orlenko’s ingenuity and humor. Clever names like Screaming Chicken Vanilla, Naked Ape Banana and Crazy Bunny Chocolate coupled with amusing drawings by Philly’s Premium’s secret label artist, known only as “Deep Pencil,” lends a note of irreverence. “Liqueurs can be so serious, so we thought we’d add some humor,” says Orlenko. “Plus, it draws a lot of attention to our products verses the [more serious] labels of our competitors.”
Both the old fashioned cocktails and the liqueurs are available statewide. The cocktails come in a four-pack ($13.99). “You can get two cocktails per bottle if you pour them over ice,” says Orlenko. The liqueurs are sold as 750-milliliter bottles ($18.99), and numerous recipes can be found on the Philly’s Premium website. This summer, the two most popular cocktail varieties will be sold in cans and will be available at State Fair.
For more information visit phillysbeverages.com.
