The Friday Cocktail - The Sazerac

The Sazerac Company, New Orleans, LA - Company History

Heading to New Orleans this evening to see our friends Rod and Greg and Rod's performance in the Gulls and this put me in the mind to feature this old favorite New Orleans coctail. This is definitely a love it or hate it drink. You'll fall in the love it camp if you like whiskey and licorice. That tends to leave a lot of people in the hat it camp. The link takes you to an interesting history of the cocktail and the company. A less official, and more in depth history can be found at the gumbo pages.

Here's a version of the recipe from the Sazerac Company:
Take two heavy-bottomed 3 1/2-oz. Bar glasses; fill one with cracked ice and allow it to chill while placing a lump of sugar with just enough water to moisten it. Crush the saturated lump of sugar with a bar spoon. Add a few drops of Peychaud's Bitters, a jigger of rye whisky and several lumps of ice and stir briskly. Empty the first glass of ice, dash in several drops of Herbsaint, twirl the glass rapidly and shake out the absinthe. Enough of it will cling to the glass to impart the desired flavor. Strain into this glass the rye whisky mixture prepared in the other glass. Twist a lemon peel over the glass, but do not put it in the drink.

It's important to use Peychaud's bitters since that's the origin of the drink. You can substitute any absintheesque liquor for the Herbsaint, but I find Herbsaint is very good and less expensive than say Pernod. I often make this with bourbon and serve it on the rocks, but Hunter swears by Rye and I think Mike agrees (I can't recall if you use rye in Sazeracs or just Manhattans). I feel a taste test coming on.

Cheers!