Tuyserkan Old Fashioned

The story

Hamadan province keeps two orchards the FAO calls world agricultural heritage. In Malayer, the town of the golden bunches, the autumn grapes are boiled down into shireh, the dark molasses the Zagros eats with bread all winter. In Tuyserkan, an hour away, nine households in ten live from walnut trees that have stood for generations. Put the two on a table with lavash and tea and you have a Zagros evening. The old fashioned is the simplest way to drink it: whiskey, a spoon of shireh in place of sugar, a trace of walnut, bitters, one big piece of ice.

Method

1. Chill a rocks glass.
2. Stir the bourbon, grape molasses syrup, walnut orgeat and bitters with ice for 25 seconds.
3. Strain over one large, clear ice cube.
4. Express an orange peel over the surface and drop it in.
5. Rest a toasted walnut half on a pick across the glass.

How it tastes

Rich and slow: raisin and caramel from the shireh under bourbon’s oak and vanilla, a creamy walnut edge, orange on the nose. Sweeter than a classic old fashioned by a hair, drier than it looks.

Persian taste: shirin (sweet), nutty, warm

Pair it with

• Food: Lavash with walnuts, feta and herbs, the Hamadan breakfast.
• Sweet: Walnut baklava.
• Snack: Fresh walnuts (gerdoo-ye tar) with salt in autumn

Variations

Grape brandy

Swap the bourbon for aged grape brandy for an all-grape drink.

Smoked

Rinse the glass with a few drops of peated whisky.

Winter

Stir in half a cinnamon stick and serve slightly less cold.

Balancing tips

• Shireh is sweeter than simple syrup: 10 ml is the ceiling.
• Clear ice, one piece; the drink should barely dilute.
• Stir long enough; this drink is better very cold.

Allergens

• Tree nuts (walnut)
• Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.

Development notes

• Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
• Test grape molasses at 7.5 and 10 ml; test walnut orgeat at 5 and 10.
• Sources: FAO GIAHS, Tuyserkan walnut system; FreshPlaza on Malayer’s grape heritage.