February Drink of the Month - The Sazerac

It will be an early Easter this year (the earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd, so we are pretty close! But Easter will not occur on March 22nd next until 2285, so not worries there. The latest possible date is April 25, which will next occur in 2038 - get ready!). An early Easter means an early Fat Tuesday, which means that it is time to drink Sazerac cocktails in honor of everything New Orleans. Last time I wrote a New Orleans post, we all drank Hurricanes together. And while those are wonderful drinks (and they are the go-to celebration beverage for me and Ann - but only from the Chicory Cafe), the Sazerac is a wonderful tribute to New Orleans culture, and a much less fruity drink (added bonus)! It is also, as of 2008, the official cocktail of the City of New Orleans, so we should probably feature it here at some point!

Photo from Liquor.com

The Sazerac actually takes its name from a brand of Cognac. A Mr. Taylor was the sole importer of the Sazerac-du-Forge et Fils cognac. He also owned a bar where the cognac was sold to the masses. Eventually the bar changed owners and the name changed to the "Sazerac Coffee House." Patrons would wander in searching for "Sazerac" cocktails, and thus the drink was born. The drink was essentially an improved brandy cocktail - the improvement in this case being a rinse of absinthe or herbsaint, and tradition demands that the bitters used in the cocktail were the venerable Peychaud bitters. Over time, the base of the drink moved from brandy to rye whiskey, which brings us to the drink we know today.

Purists will tell you that the modern Peychaud's bitters, manufactured in Frankfort, Kentucky at the Buffalo Trace distillery by the Sazerac distilling company, are not a perfect match for the Peychaud's of old, and so many recipes for Sazeracs today will call for a mixture of Angostura and Peychaud's bitters. If you can find higher-proof rye, this is also preferable. Many recipes will call for a sugar cube to be crushed (as with an old fashioned) for the beverage, and most demand an absinthe rinse of the glass before you build your cocktail. The recipe I have tweaked over time below honors some of these tradition, while modifying others. You can certainly bow to tradition if you would like, but I would encourage you try my method below - it saves time, saves absinthe, and adds flavor (in my humble opinion)!

In a mixing glass, combine the following:

An atomizer full of absinthe

2 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (I like Whistle Pig and Rittenhouse. I also had a great bottle of 3 year-old Willett single-barrel that made wonderful Sazeracs)

1/3 oz simple syrup*

2-3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

1 dashes Angostura bitters 

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Using an atomizer (sometime called a martini mister - pictured), spray one pump of absinthe over the liquid. Serve with a lemon twist for a garnish.**

*As you can see, I'm a fan of simple syrup over crushed sugar cubes. Yes, it does add a bit of water to the drink, but having pre-made syrup ensures the sugar is entirely dissolved. No one wants a crust of undissolved sugar at the bottom of their glass.

My bitters shelf

**This is where I break the most from tradition. I find that a true absinthe rinse will lend many of the same flavor profiles as using an atomizer, but it wastes far more absinthe. Using the atomizer helps express the anise flavor better, and it hits the nose on your first several sips, which adds to the bouquet. Atomizers are cheap - I keep one with my bitters collection for absinthe, and another for vermouth.

I hope you enjoy your Sazerac cocktail!