We dilute aggressively to hit slush-range ABV without losing the bourbon backbone.
Bench-tested by the Will It Slush? team · Last revised August 5, 2026
Ingredients
Scale the batch — amounts update live in your units.
- Bourbon295 ml
- Demerara Syrup (2:1)90 ml
- Water650 ml
- Orange Juice30 ml
- Sugar (to taste)61.6 g
Method
- 1.Stir 3 dashes of Angostura into the water first.
- 2.Combine all in Slushi, run 60 min.
- 3.Big orange peel garnish.
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Notes from our testing
Spirit-forward classics need the most rebuilding — this is 11% ABV pretending to be 32%.
An old fashioned is essentially undiluted whiskey with a sugar cube and bitters, somewhere above 30% ABV in the glass. It is at the far end of the impossible range for a slush machine, and no amount of technique changes that — the recipe has to become a different drink that keeps the flavour signature.
Four ounces of bourbon across a full batch with demerara syrup to about 12 Brix and water to fill gives you roughly 11% ABV. The demerara matters more than it would in a shaken drink: freezing flattens flavour, and the molasses depth of a raw sugar syrup is what keeps this from tasting like weak whiskey water.
Bitters are the other half of the identity, and they get lost when spread across 64 oz. Use them generously in the batch — a full teaspoon of Angostura — and then dash more on top of each poured glass.
Express an orange peel over the finished glass. The oil is the aroma that a cold drink cannot deliver from the liquid itself, and it is the difference between recognisable and vague.