Sazerac

The Origin

The Sazerac takes its name from Sazerac de Forge et Fils, a cognac brand imported and sold by a New Orleans merchant named Sewell Taylor in the 1830s and 1840s. Taylor later sold his importing business and used the proceeds to open a coffeehouse, as bars were commonly known in New Orleans at the time, where the house drink was a cognac cocktail built with Peychaud's bitters. Antoine Peychaud was a Creole apothecary who had been producing his bitters in New Orleans since around 1830, and his product became inseparable from the drink that would eventually bear the name of the cognac it was built on.

The phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s destroyed a significant proportion of French vineyards and made cognac scarce across the American market for nearly two decades. New Orleans bartenders substituted rye whiskey, which was domestically produced and consistently available. By the time French cognac production recovered, rye had become the established base and the drink had found its permanent character.

The Absinthe Rinse

The absinthe rinse is the technique most commonly misunderstood or abbreviated in versions of the Sazerac that fall short. The rinse is not a few drops swirled around the bottom of the glass. It is a proper coat of the entire interior surface, achieved by pouring a small measure of absinthe into the glass, tilting and rotating until every part of the glass wall is covered, and discarding the remainder completely before the drink is strained in.

The purpose is aromatic. The absinthe leaves a thin film of anise-forward botanical oils across the glass that the drink passes through with every sip. The quantity that remains after the excess is discarded is not measurable, but its presence is unmistakable. A Sazerac without the rinse is a rye Old Fashioned with Peychaud's bitters. A good drink. Not the same drink.

Peychaud's and the New Orleans Identity

Antoine Peychaud's bitters were originally produced as a medicinal tonic, dispensed from his apothecary on Royal Street in the French Quarter. The anise-forward, cherry-inflected character of his formula was distinct from the more commonly available Angostura bitters and became one of the defining aromatics of New Orleans cocktail culture. The Sazerac, the Corpse Reviver No. 2, and La Louisiane all use Peychaud's as either the primary or a supporting bitter. In the Sazerac it is the primary aromatic. The single dash of Angostura provides spice and depth underneath it without competing for the lead.

Some bartenders build the Sazerac with Peychaud's alone. The version with a single supporting dash of Angostura produces a more layered result. Both are defensible. The single dash version is worth trying first.

How to Serve It

Stirred, strained, served without ice in a chilled Old Fashioned glass that has been rinsed with absinthe, with lemon peel expressed over the surface and discarded. No garnish in the glass. No ice. No straw. This is a drink that is consumed slowly and deliberately, and the absence of ice means it warms gradually in the hand, changing slightly as the temperature rises. That progression is part of the experience. Let it happen.