{recipe} Sazerac Cocktail

The Sazerac is a traditional New Orleans cocktail, and it’s a doozy. Strong and sweet; I can only drink one. But boy, do I enjoy that one. To make a proper Sazerac cocktail, you need both Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters, plus a sugar cube and a twist of lemon, to flavor a glass of chilled rye or bourbon. A rinse of absinthe adds the aroma and light taste of anise to the Sazerac to round it out.

Peychaud’s bitters are a 100% New Orleans thing – invented by a Creole pharmacist, Antoine Amadie Peychaud. He dispensed his homemade bitters as a health tonic from his French Quarter apothecary shop. They are sweeter and a bit more fruity and floral than Angostura bitters.

Sazeracs are not traditionally served over ice, but that’s how I prefer mine – especially during a heat wave like the one we are having in California. Happy Monday!

Sazerac Cocktail
makes one

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 sugar cube
• 1 ½ ounces American rye whiskey or bourbon whiskey
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Absinthe or other anise-flavored liqueur* to coat the glass
• Twist of lemon

METHOD:

• Start with 2 highball glasses. Fill one with ice and set aside.
• In the other glass, put sugar cube, whiskey, and bitters. Stir to crush the sugar cube. Add ice and stir.
• Dump the ice out of the first glass. Rinse with absinthe.
• Strain sugar and whiskey mixture into coated glass.  Garnish with lemon twist.

*arrack, ricard, pernod, Sambuca, etc.