Sazerac Recipe: The New Orleans Classic

Ingredients

1¾ oz cognace.g. Hennessy · Rémy Martin · Martell · Courvoisier · Pierre Ferrand
¼ oz absinthe for rinsing the glasse.g. Pernod · La Clandestine · Kübler · St. George · Lucid
1 sugar cube
2 dash Peychaud's bittersBuy on Amazon →
1 bar spoon water to dissolve the sugar (optional)

Garnish: Lemon peel · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Chill a rocks glass with ice, then discard the ice and rinse the glass with the absinthe; pour out the excess.
In a mixing glass, soak the sugar cube with the Peychaud's bitters and a barspoon of water and crush it until dissolved.
Add the cognac, fill with ice and stir for about 20 seconds.
Strain into the prepared glass without ice.
Express a strip of lemon peel over the drink; drop it in or discard it, as you prefer.

Watch it made

Sazerac

Taste

Spirit-forward and aromatic: dried fruit and vanilla from the cognac, cherry and anise from the Peychaud's, a faint licorice perfume from the absinthe and bright lemon oil on the nose. Strong and smooth.

History and origin

The Sazerac is tied to New Orleans like few drinks are to any city. Its bitters come from Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who sold his aromatic bitters in the French Quarter in the first half of the nineteenth century. The drink takes its name from Sazerac de Forge et Fils, a cognac sold at the Sazerac Coffee House, where the cocktail became a house specialty.

A popular legend says Peychaud himself served brandy and bitters in an egg cup, the coquetier, and that the word "cocktail" grew out of it. It is a charming story, but historians treat it as folklore.

After phylloxera devastated French vineyards in the late nineteenth century, cognac became scarce and American rye whiskey took its place in many recipes. Both versions are made today; the IBA specification uses cognac. In 2008 Louisiana named the Sazerac the official cocktail of New Orleans.

Bartender tips

Use simple syrup (about 5 ml) instead of the sugar cube if you want a faster, perfectly dissolved build.
An atomiser makes the absinthe rinse precise and wastes nothing.
For the rye version use 50 ml rye whiskey, or split cognac and rye half and half for a rounder, spicier drink.

Variations

Rye Sazerac: Replace cognac with rye whiskey for a drier, spicier drink, the most common version in American bars.
Half and half Sazerac: Use 25 ml cognac and 25 ml rye whiskey to combine fruit and spice.