Welcome back friends, it's Anders. Today we're
finally making the Sazerac. And i've been looking forward to this one. There is no other
cocktail that is more closely related to a city than the Sazerac is to New Orleans. I've had a few
different variations of the Sazerac, and I'm going to show you one that I absolutely love. But we've
got a lot to unpack. History, the booze, the recipe. I'm going to talk a lot, but stick around
because it is worth it. This drink is great. If you're new to the channel hit that
subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes, and let's go make the Sazerac. To the bar. All right we are going to talk about the history
of this cocktail, which is actually quite cloudy. But that's no surprise because this cocktail is
old. Some people say this is the original cocktail, but it's not. The word "cocktail" came long before
the Sazerac did, but the Sazerac is still pretty old. It's believed to have dated back to the
mid-1800s when Antoine Amédée Peychaud developed this cocktail in his pharmacy. Which was in the
French Quarter in New Orleans. Now he also created Peychaud's bitters, and if you are familiar with
New Orleans cocktails, this is a crucial ingredient. And a very important ingredient in this cocktail.
If you want to know more about the bitters check out my video on the gun shop fizz. Now the
original Sazerac is said to have been made with cognac. Specifically a brand called Sazerac
de Forge et Fils, which was very popular in New Orleans at the time. And soon after the cocktail
was developed, it was served and became the house cocktail at the Sazerac Coffee House. Which wasn't
a coffee house. Back then they would call bars coffee house because it was just classier. It
doesn't matter because later they dropped the word "coffee" and it just became known as the Sazerac
House. However, things changed in the 1860s and 70s because in Europe there was an epidemic. It was
phylloxera. Phylloxera is a parasite that attacks grapevines, and kills them off. So you don't have
grapes to make cognac. So meanwhile back in New Orleans everybody's drinking cognac Sazeracs
and they run out of cognac. What do you do you? You swap it out with rye whiskey, because that was more
readily available. And it made for a great cocktail. And the cocktail evolved, survived, and flourished.
And by the early 1900s, the Sazerac cocktail was synonymous with the city of New Orleans, and still
is to this day. Now unfortunately the original Sazerac House was demolished, but the cocktail
found a new home in the 1940s at the Sazerac Bar. And it's still there today. I've been there a
couple times, it's a great space. If you're ever in New Orleans, check it out. It's like stepping back in
time. And they make a proper Sazarac. My Sazerac is going to be a little different. I'm going to take
elements from the original cocktail, as well as the later cocktail, and it's really good. But, before we
talk booze, I want to talk about glassware, because right now, get your glass chilled. This cocktail
is served in a low ball, and there's no ice. Well you stir and dilute it, but it's not served with
any ice. So we want to keep the cocktail chilled. I actually have a specific glass just for this.
This is a Gibraltar - a single rocks Gibraltar glass. Not only is it smaller because I don't need
the room for the ice, but it's really thick glass. So it stays cold once it's cold. This cocktail
isn't for drinking quickly. It's a sipper. So if we can keep it cold as long as possible, it's just
going to be great right down to the last sip. Now the booze. For this recipe we're going to need rye
whiskey, cognac, absinthe, bitters, and simple syrup. This is my semi-rich syrup, so it's one and a half
parts sugar to one part water. The rye I'm using is Sazerac Straight Rye, the cognac is Maison Rouge
VSOP, the absinthe is Nouvelle Orleans, the bitters is Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters and Angostura
Aromatic Bitters. Sazerac has become the name of a New Orleans-based corporation that has become
a major player in the spirit world - spirits world. It's a ghost company. This is a six year rye. It's
got a lot of spice, so it's really good in this cocktail. Use whatever rye you like, pick a good one,
it's gonna be delicious. In terms of the cognac, I would suggest using a good cognac for this. And
if you want, try a Sazerac that is all cognac. It's nice, and soft, and easy drinking - very good.
I'm just going to use a little bit to round off the spiciness of the rye. In terms of absinthe,
the Sazerac cocktail had a second evolution when absinthe was outlawed in the United States. In
response, in the 1930s, a New Orleans-based company developed something called Herbsaint. Which is like
absinthe without the wormwood. It's a little bit lighter, a little bit sweeter, but makes for a great
Sazerac. In fact if you are in New Orleans and you order a Sazerac, chances are you're going to get it
made with Herbsaint. I'm using absinthe because I like this absinthe, but whatever you want to do,
it's gonna be fine. This is just a rinse in the glass. Now the bitters. We should talk about bitters.
I'm sure that some of you are Sazerac enthusiasts, and you probably cringed when I pulled out
the Angostura Aromatic Bitters. Some say this is blasphemy. But this is my cocktail, so this
is the way i want to drink it. It's true though, the important one here is Peychaud's. All the
other components in this drink have changed over the years except for Peychaud's. This was in
the initial Sazerac and it's still in the Sazerac today. It goes really well with absinthe. It's
just an important player in this drink. However the Angostura Bitters can complement the Peychaud's
if you use just a little bit. Too much Angostura can go too far and overpower everything. This is
not an original idea of mine. Years ago I went to the Napoleon House in New Orleans, and they made
a Sazerac with a small dash of Angostura Bitters. And it was delicious, so I started doing it too.
As far as the sugar, I'm using syrup. Originally it would have been a sugar cube, but I like
the consistency and texture of the syrup. It's a lot to go over. Oh - have
a lemon handy. Let's build. We are going to start with the rye. So I'm using
both rye and cognac, and this is actually rather common, but i'm going to go a little heavier on the
rye because the Sazerac I fell in love with was a rye Sazerac, and I like that spice in there. We're
going to do an ounce and a half of rye whiskey. To that, we will add half an ounce of cognac,
a quarter of an ounce of our simple syrup, and then three good dashes of Peychaud's Bitters, and one small dash of Angostura Bitters. If you
have one of those little dashing bottles that will work great. I usually have this huge bottle
of Angostura Bitters, but for Sazeracs I like the smaller because i get a smaller dash. I suppose
I could just get one of those dashing bottles, but there are some things I'm just a caveman
about. This is one of them. All we have to do is add ice and stir. Give it a stir for about 20-30
seconds, depending on your ice. You can always tell if people put in too much Peychaud's if it's a
deep red, or if they put in too little, and you don't see any pink at all. Do you like Sazeracs, Az? I don't know why it came out that way. I'm gonna say that's good. Grab your chilled rocks glass. Give it a rinse
with my atomizer. I'm gonna do eight good spritz - es. One more. And then we can just strain the
cocktail off into the glass. Now express some lemon oil right across the top. Hit the
sides. I'm gonna clean up the edges on this one. Some people are really particular about their
lemon twist with their Sazeracs, but i'm going to set it on the side - not in the drink, so that
whoever gets it can drop it in if they want, or toss it. I'm going to toss it. Actually I should put this on for the final shot. The Sazerac. Cheers! It's no wonder it is such
a popular drink. Really good. Dear spot in my heart. You do get
the spiciness from the rye, but it's cooled off by the fruitiness of the cognac. You
don't really pick up on the Angostura Bitters. It's more of the Peychaud's and the absinthe. I do
think that the Angostura helps lift it up, and then a brightness from the lemon. An outstanding
drink. How do you like your Sazerac? Leave a comment down below. Like, subscribe, notification
bell, all that stuff. I will see you next week. Cheers!
