Sazerac
Rye, sugar and anise-scented bitters in an absinthe-rinsed glass, served without ice. New Orleans's own Old Fashioned.
- MethodStirred
- GlassRocks (old fashioned) glass
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 28.8% ABV
- BaseWhiskey
- Tastestrong, herbal, bitter
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | Rye whiskey or Cognac (VSOP) |
| 7.5 ml ¼ oz | Simple syrup (1:1) or Sugar cube (or 1 tsp sugar) |
| 3 dashes | Peychaud's-style anise bitters |
| 1 dash | Aromatic bitters (Angostura-style) (optional) |
| 2 dashes | Absinthe |
Garnish. A strip of lemon peel squeezed over the surface for its oil, then traditionally discarded rather than dropped in.
Method
- Chill a rocks glass with ice. Put the whiskey, syrup and bitters in a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir for about 30 seconds, until cold.
- Empty the chilled glass, add the absinthe and roll it round to coat the inside; pour away any excess.
- Strain the drink into the coated glass, with no ice.
- Express the lemon peel over the surface and discard it.
About the Sazerac
The Sazerac is an Old Fashioned made the New Orleans way: rye (or cognac) with sugar and a bright red, anise-scented local bitters, served cold but with no ice in a glass rinsed with absinthe. The absinthe is there as a scent more than a flavour, and the lemon oil on top lifts the whole thing.
History
Earliest record 1908: William Boothby, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (San Francisco)
Documented
The name comes from the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans, a bar of the mid-19th century named after a brand of cognac it sold. Peychaud's bitters were made in the city by the apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud from the 1830s or so. The drink is usually linked to Thomas Handy, who ran the Sazerac bar from around 1870, and the move from cognac to rye is often put down to the vine pest phylloxera, which made French brandy scarce from the 1870s. The earliest known printed recipe is in William Boothby's The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (San Francisco, 1908). In 2008 the Louisiana legislature named it the official cocktail of New Orleans.
Legend and lore
It is often said that Peychaud mixed his bitters with brandy in an egg cup (a "coquetier") and that this gave English the word "cocktail". The word was in print in New York decades before he could have served anything, so the story does not hold. Claims that the Sazerac is the oldest American cocktail rest on the same muddle.
Disputed or unclear: Who first put absinthe in the drink, and when it was first called a Sazerac, is not certain; early sources credit different people.
Variations
- Cognac Sazerac. Cognac instead of rye, closer to the drink's namesake; softer and fruitier.
- Half and half. Equal parts rye and cognac, a popular modern compromise.
- Old Fashioned. The plainer parent: whiskey, sugar and aromatic bitters over ice.
- Vieux Carré. Another New Orleans classic with rye, cognac and Peychaud's bitters.
Bartender's notes
- Two dashes of absinthe is plenty for the rinse; the aim is a scent on the glass, not a layer in it.
- Without absinthe, an anise liqueur such as pastis will do the same job.
