Wisconsin lawmakers want to make Brandy Old-Fashioned the state's official cocktail. For many, it already is

MADISON – When you think of Wisconsin's signature cocktail, which drink comes to mind?

Maybe it's a Bloody Mary at Sunday brunch, topped with elaborate garnishes and paired with a beer chaser. Others may picture ice cream drinks like a Grasshopper enjoyed after a prime rib special at the local supper club.

But for two state lawmakers — and industry experts — the answer is unequivocal: the Brandy Old-Fashioned. The Legislature could soon declare it the state's official cocktail, though many argue the drink already holds that status in the minds of Wisconsinites.

"We don't necessarily need it passed by our Legislature. We've kind of voted with our drinking habits," said Jeanette Hurt, who chronicled the history of the Brandy Old-Fashioned and other drinks in her book "Wisconsin Cocktails."

The cocktail has "always been a part of Wisconsin heritage," said Rep. Jon Plumer, a Republican from Lodi who pitched the idea to other lawmakers last month. He remembers pouring "a fair number" while working as a bartender, and "over my lifetime, I've drank a fair number."

"You go to a supper club, and you just sit at the bar and listen to the orders, it's Brandy Old-Fashioned, Brandy Old-Fashioned," Plumer said. "It's what we do here."

More: What's the most popular cocktail in Wisconsin? It may surprise you

For many Wisconsinites, Brandy Old-Fashioneds are a family affair, tracing their introduction to the cocktail back to their grandparents.

"It's both my grandmothers' favorite drink," said Andy Braun, a beverage sales director with Drink Wisconsinbly, a lifestyle brand that makes its own brandy. "Growing up, you saw your parents or your grandparents drink them, but it didn't really puncture through Wisconsin popular culture until a few years ago."

Brandy has a special history in Wisconsin, though the drink is evolving

The resolution, also authored by Republican Sen. Cory Tomczyk of Mosinee, notes that Wisconsin accounts for over half of Korbel's annual brandy sales and highlights Wisconsin's special relationship with the liquor.

Hurt spent years researching the origins of Wisconsin cocktails, ultimately disproving a story that tied the state's obsession with brandy back to Korbel's presence at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Instead, its roots were in the discovery of 38,000 cases of aged Christian Brothers brandy, which Wisconsin distributors brought to the state. Wisconsinites faced the choice of "bad whiskey or good brandy" during post-World War II food shortages, and generations that followed became accustomed to drinking brandy.

More: Why does Wisconsin drink so much brandy? Our love affair with the spirit — and fruity Old-Fashioneds — isn't as old as you might think.

While ordering the drink with brandy is standard in Wisconsin, it may confuse bartenders in other states. They would use bourbon or whiskey and wouldn't muddle in fruit, explained Drew McCauley, co-manager of Jordan's Big 10 Pub in Madison.

"Traditionally, you wouldn't get it with brandy anywhere else in the country," McCauley said. "I visited Texas, and I asked for a Brandy Old-Fashioned sweet. And I had to clarify what I wanted, because they just looked at me like, 'What in the world is that?'"

Old-Fashioneds are the first drink new bartenders are trained to make, he said. Typically, a bartender could make 50 during a Friday night fish fry, a tradition McCauley called "one and the same" with the cocktail. Braun said he would make 75 to 200 Old-Fashioneds on a Friday night at the brand's first pub location.

More: Wisconsin faces a competing claim to the old fashioned cocktail, and it's from the South

"The ongoing joke is the muddler pistons all across the state of Wisconsin on a Friday night," Braun said. "Your muddling arm is much stronger than your non-muddling arm."

While people are typically "very set in their ways" when it comes to their orders, McCauley said, variations on the cocktail have also become popular. His pub, located two blocks from Camp Randall Stadium, won a local Old-Fashioned contest this year after featuring peach-infused bourbon made in-house.

Hurt has found that craft cocktail bars — even outside of Wisconsin — are adding upscale twists that contribute to the drink's staying power. Some brands, including Drink Wisconsinbly, have even put the cocktail in a can or bottle, allowing people to enjoy the drink at tailgates or on pontoon rides, not just supper clubs.

Braun sees the classic version as "a dynamic elixir on its own and it doesn't need any further tweaking," noting that the brand keeps the drink traditional and adds a cheese curd garnish.

Bartenders "like to be creative, but at the same time, they know they have to give the customers what they really want," Hurt said. "Here in Wisconsin, you got to have an Old Fashioned on your menu or you have to know how to make it."

Proposal wouldn't actually put the Old-Fashioned into state law

Because the proposal is a resolution and not a bill, the Brandy Old-Fashioned won't get added to state law or the list of Wisconsin symbols in the Blue Book. The same was true when Gov. Tony Evers proclaimed this September "Wisconsin Brandy Old-Fashioned Month."

Two other state symbols have been declared through resolutions since 1995, including the ultimate state sandwich: a "double bratwurst on a hard roll, with the works, referred to as a 'lunch' in the Sheboygan area."

While resolutions only express the Legislature's opinion and don't carry the force of law, the distinction doesn't matter much to the drink's enthusiasts.

"Whether it gets put (in the Blue Book) or whether it gets codified into law, it is our state cocktail. It is what we drink," Hurt said. "It's not a drink that's Republican, or a drink that's Democratic. It's a drink that's Wisconsin."

The resolution has already picked up bipartisan support, Plumer said. Recent bills to create new symbols have stalled, including a proposal to designate Colby as the state cheese. Some lawmakers were concerned the idea could undercut other cheese varieties made in Wisconsin.

Plumer and others don't anticipate any controversy with the popular Brandy Old-Fashioned, though he said authors specified cocktail instead of adult beverage "so that we didn't offend the beer people."

Going the bill route would have allowed for a hearing where the public could weigh in, but the authors went with a resolution because "it's getting more and more difficult to get something like this into state statute."

More: How are Wisconsin's state symbols, like the state bird, chosen? Schoolchildren often play a part.

McCauley agreed that the Legislature doesn't even need to cement the drink's official status, adding that lawmakers "can do more important things with their time."

Plumer has rejected that notion, saying the proposal has already brought national publicity to the state's unique traditions that Wisconsinites take pride in.

"Anything that draws attention to how special the state of Wisconsin is, I think is a good thing," he said.

Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@gannett.com and on X at @hopekarnopp.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawmakers want Brandy Old-Fashioned to be Wisconsin official cocktail