Sazerac
Encyclopedia
The Sazerac is a local New Orleans variation of an old-fashioned cognac or whiskey cocktail, named for the Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of cognac that was its original prime ingredient. The drink is some combination of cognac, rye whiskey, absinthe
or Herbsaint
, and Peychaud's Bitters
and distinguished by its preparation method. It is sometimes referred to as the oldest known American cocktail
, with origins in pre–Civil War
New Orleans, Louisiana
, though there are much earlier mentions of the cocktail in print.
or an anise-flavored spirit. Pernod, Herbsaint
, Absente
and green Chartreuse
were common substitutes for absinthe when it was not available.
According to the Sazerac Company of New Orleans, the modern day Sazerac Cocktail recipe calls for 1 cube of sugar, 1½ ounces of Sazerac Rye Whiskey, ¼ ounce of Herbsaint, 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters and a lemon peel. One Old Fashioned glass is packed with ice. In a second Old Fashioned glass, a sugar cube and 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters
are muddled. The rye whiskey is then added to the sugar/bitters mixture. The ice is emptied from the first Old Fashioned glass and the Herbsaint is poured into the glass and swirled to coat the sides of the glass. Any excess Herbsaint is discarded. The rye/sugar/bitters mixture is then poured into the Herbsaint coated glass and the glass is garnished with a lemon peel.
epidemic in Europe that devastated France's wine grape crops. At some point before his death in 1889, Handy recorded the recipe for cocktail and the drink made its first printed appearance in William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's 1908 edition of his "The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them," though this recipe calls for Selner Bitters, not Peychaud's. During the time that absinthe was banned, it was replaced by various anise-flavored spirits, including the locally-produced Herbsaint.
The drink is a simple variation on a plain whiskey or cognac "Cock-Tail" (alcohol, sugar, water and bitters) and could have been ordered in any latter 19th Century bar in the U.S. as a Whiskey Cocktail with a dash of absinthe. It was this type of variation to the cocktail that caused patrons not interested in the new complexities of cocktails to request their drinks done the Old Fashioned
way. By the early 20th Century, vermouth was fairly prevalent, and simple cocktails like the Sazerac had become a somewhat rare curiosity, which aided its popularity.
The creation of the Sazerac has also been credited to Antoine Amadie Peychaud, the Creole apothecary who moved to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter in the early part of the 19th Century. He dispensed a proprietary mix of aromatic bitters from an old family recipe. According to legend he served his drink in the large end of an egg cup that was called a coquetier in French, and that the Americanized pronunciation of this as "cocktail" gave this type of drink its name. However, the word cocktail
predates this by decades, first appearing in print in 1803, and first defined in print in 1806 as "a mixture of spirits of any kind, water, sugar and bitters, vulgarly called a bittered sling.".
(D-New Orleans) filed Senate Bill 6 designating the Sazerac as Louisiana's official state cocktail. The bill was defeated on April 8, 2008. The state Senate
then approved a revised bill designating it as the official cocktail for New Orleans only, rather than the entire state, but the state House
then reverted the bill back to its original form. The Senate then rejected the bill again, sending it to conference committee. The committee said it should be the official New Orleans cocktail and the Senate agreed. However, the House then failed to concur. Finally, on June 23, 2008 the House agreed to proclaim the Sazerac as New Orleans' official cocktail.
and produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery
. There are two current expressions of the brand; an 18 year whiskey and a younger, 6 year-old. Both are bottled at 90 proof.
when chef Janette Desautel (played by Kim Dickens
) tosses one in the face of restaurant critic and food writer Alan Richman
(appearing as himself). Richman had angered many New Orleanians in 2006 with an article in the magazine GQ in which he criticized New Orleans' food culture post-Katrina
. Despite reservations, he agreed to participate in the scene and called Sazerac "a good choice of weaponry, because it symbolizes the city".
In "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" when he meets with his father for drinks, his father orders a Sazerac.
In the 1948 movie State of the Union
, starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, a southern lady named Lulubelle Alexander orders several Sazerac cocktails.
W. E. B. Griffin
's Presidential Agent series
of novels also include references to this drink and the author's version of the recipe.
Where to find the best Sazerac cocktail in Washington DC is key to the plot of Covert Affairs
episode #24 "Girl Like You".
In "Live and Let Die
" when Bond returns to the Fillet of Soul with the FBI agent, the agent orders two Sazerac cocktails after Bond orders a Bourbon.
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
or Herbsaint
Herbsaint
Herbsaint is a brand name of anise-flavored liquor currently produced by the Sazerac Company and originally made in New Orleans, Louisiana.Herbsaint first appeared in 1934. It was the creation of J.M. Legendre and Reginald Parker of New Orleans, who learned how to make absinthe while in France...
, and Peychaud's Bitters
Peychaud's Bitters
Peychaud's Bitters, originally created around 1830 by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary from the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, who settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1795, is distributed by Sazerac. It is a gentian-based bitters, comparable to Angostura bitters, but with...
and distinguished by its preparation method. It is sometimes referred to as the oldest known American cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
, with origins in pre–Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, though there are much earlier mentions of the cocktail in print.
Preparation
The defining feature of the Sazerac is the preparation of an old-fashioned glass with absintheAbsinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
or an anise-flavored spirit. Pernod, Herbsaint
Herbsaint
Herbsaint is a brand name of anise-flavored liquor currently produced by the Sazerac Company and originally made in New Orleans, Louisiana.Herbsaint first appeared in 1934. It was the creation of J.M. Legendre and Reginald Parker of New Orleans, who learned how to make absinthe while in France...
, Absente
Absente
Absente is a brand name of 110 proof anise liqueur that has been marketed under the tagline "Absinthe Refined" since circa 2001. "Absente" is a French word that translates as "absent" in English.-In the U.S.:...
and green Chartreuse
Chartreuse (liqueur)
Chartreuse is a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks since the 1740s. It is composed of distilled alcohol aged with 130 herbal extracts. The liqueur is named after the Monks' Grande Chartreuse monastery, located in the Chartreuse Mountains in the general region of Grenoble in France...
were common substitutes for absinthe when it was not available.
According to the Sazerac Company of New Orleans, the modern day Sazerac Cocktail recipe calls for 1 cube of sugar, 1½ ounces of Sazerac Rye Whiskey, ¼ ounce of Herbsaint, 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters and a lemon peel. One Old Fashioned glass is packed with ice. In a second Old Fashioned glass, a sugar cube and 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters
Peychaud's Bitters
Peychaud's Bitters, originally created around 1830 by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary from the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, who settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1795, is distributed by Sazerac. It is a gentian-based bitters, comparable to Angostura bitters, but with...
are muddled. The rye whiskey is then added to the sugar/bitters mixture. The ice is emptied from the first Old Fashioned glass and the Herbsaint is poured into the glass and swirled to coat the sides of the glass. Any excess Herbsaint is discarded. The rye/sugar/bitters mixture is then poured into the Herbsaint coated glass and the glass is garnished with a lemon peel.
Historical information
Around 1850, Sewell T. Taylor sold his bar, The Merchants Exchange Coffee House, and went into the imported liquor business. He began to import a brand of cognac named Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils. At the same time, Aaron Bird took over the Merchants Exchange and changed its name to the Sazerac House and began serving the "Sazerac Cocktail," made with Taylor's Sazerac cognac and, legend has it, the bitters being made down the street by a local druggist, Antoine Amedie Peychaud. The Sazerac House changed hands several times and around 1870 Thomas Handy took over as proprietor. Around this time the primary ingredient changed from cognac to rye whiskey due to the phylloxeraPhylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
epidemic in Europe that devastated France's wine grape crops. At some point before his death in 1889, Handy recorded the recipe for cocktail and the drink made its first printed appearance in William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's 1908 edition of his "The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them," though this recipe calls for Selner Bitters, not Peychaud's. During the time that absinthe was banned, it was replaced by various anise-flavored spirits, including the locally-produced Herbsaint.
The drink is a simple variation on a plain whiskey or cognac "Cock-Tail" (alcohol, sugar, water and bitters) and could have been ordered in any latter 19th Century bar in the U.S. as a Whiskey Cocktail with a dash of absinthe. It was this type of variation to the cocktail that caused patrons not interested in the new complexities of cocktails to request their drinks done the Old Fashioned
Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is a type of cocktail made by muddling dissolved sugar with bitters then adding alcohol, such as jenever, whiskey, or brandy, and a twist of citrus rind. The name references the combination's age: it is possibly the first drink to be called a cocktail...
way. By the early 20th Century, vermouth was fairly prevalent, and simple cocktails like the Sazerac had become a somewhat rare curiosity, which aided its popularity.
The creation of the Sazerac has also been credited to Antoine Amadie Peychaud, the Creole apothecary who moved to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter in the early part of the 19th Century. He dispensed a proprietary mix of aromatic bitters from an old family recipe. According to legend he served his drink in the large end of an egg cup that was called a coquetier in French, and that the Americanized pronunciation of this as "cocktail" gave this type of drink its name. However, the word cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
predates this by decades, first appearing in print in 1803, and first defined in print in 1806 as "a mixture of spirits of any kind, water, sugar and bitters, vulgarly called a bittered sling.".
Official cocktail of New Orleans
In March 2008, Louisiana state senator Edwin R. MurrayEdwin R. Murray
Edwin Rene Murray, known as Ed Murray is an African American lawyer and Democratic politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 4....
(D-New Orleans) filed Senate Bill 6 designating the Sazerac as Louisiana's official state cocktail. The bill was defeated on April 8, 2008. The state Senate
Louisiana State Senate
The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
then approved a revised bill designating it as the official cocktail for New Orleans only, rather than the entire state, but the state House
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
then reverted the bill back to its original form. The Senate then rejected the bill again, sending it to conference committee. The committee said it should be the official New Orleans cocktail and the Senate agreed. However, the House then failed to concur. Finally, on June 23, 2008 the House agreed to proclaim the Sazerac as New Orleans' official cocktail.
Sazerac Brand
Sazerac is also a brand of Rye Whiskey owned by the Sazerac CompanySazerac Company
The Sazerac Company is a large privately held and family-operated alcoholic beverages company with headquarters in Metairie, Louisiana.It owns and produces a large and diversified portfolio of beverage brands, and it owns and operates a number of distilling companies...
and produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery
Buffalo Trace Distillery
Buffalo Trace Distillery is a distillery located in Frankfort, Kentucky. It has historically been known by several names, including most notably, the George T. Stagg Distillery and the O.F.C. Distillery. Its namesake bourbon brand, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey, was introduced...
. There are two current expressions of the brand; an 18 year whiskey and a younger, 6 year-old. Both are bottled at 90 proof.
In popular culture
A Sazerac cocktail features prominently in an episode of the TV series TremeTreme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
when chef Janette Desautel (played by Kim Dickens
Kim Dickens
Kimberly Jan "Kim" Dickens is an American actress and model.-Early life:Dickens was born in Huntsville, Alabama, graduated from that city's Lee High School, and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in communication...
) tosses one in the face of restaurant critic and food writer Alan Richman
Alan Richman
Alan Richman is an American journalist and food writer. He is perhaps best known as a food correspondent for GQ magazine, and has won 14 James Beard Foundation Award for journalism .-Early life and education:...
(appearing as himself). Richman had angered many New Orleanians in 2006 with an article in the magazine GQ in which he criticized New Orleans' food culture post-Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. Despite reservations, he agreed to participate in the scene and called Sazerac "a good choice of weaponry, because it symbolizes the city".
In "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" when he meets with his father for drinks, his father orders a Sazerac.
In the 1948 movie State of the Union
State of the Union (film)
State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures...
, starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, a southern lady named Lulubelle Alexander orders several Sazerac cocktails.
W. E. B. Griffin
W. E. B. Griffin
W. E. B. Griffin is a writer of military and detective fiction with 38 novels in six series published under that name. He has also published under several pseudonyms....
's Presidential Agent series
The Presidential Agent series
The Presidential Agent series was written by military author, W. E. B. Griffin. The series consists so far of five novels, By Order of the President, The Hostage, The Hunters, The Shooters, and, Black Ops. Like the rest of his novels, Griffin uses military time, along with the address of the place,...
of novels also include references to this drink and the author's version of the recipe.
Where to find the best Sazerac cocktail in Washington DC is key to the plot of Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs is a USA Network television series starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The one-hour drama premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The show concluded its first season on September 14, 2010 and was renewed for a second season on August 19, 2010. The second season began airing on...
episode #24 "Girl Like You".
In "Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (film)
Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
" when Bond returns to the Fillet of Soul with the FBI agent, the agent orders two Sazerac cocktails after Bond orders a Bourbon.