The Sazerac cocktail has a long history dating back to the 1830s and was widely considered the first cocktail along with its close cousin, the Old Fashioned. It was originally created by Antoine Amedee Peychaud, a pharmacist from Haiti who relocated to New Orleans during the Haitian Revolution. He opened an apothecary where he sold his namesake, Peychaud’s Bitters. He originally combined his bitters with brandy, sugar and water and sold it as a health elixir. It was said to have grown in popularity where it was then developed into a cocktail in 1883 by Thomas H. Handy at the Sazerac house in New Orleans. It was originally based with the Sazerac de-Forge et Fils, a popular French cognac brandy at the time. In 1885, American Rye whiskey replaced the brandy, due to the phylloxera epidemic which destroyed French vineyards making cognac scarce. Absinthe was also originally used as a rinse in the cocktail but was later replaced with Herbsaint (an anise flavored liqueur) after Absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912. The U.S ban on Absinthe was lifted in 2007 after thujone (the hallucinogenic ingredient) free absinthe was developed. The Sazerac became the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008. Cheers!
Equipment
- Mixing Glass
- Jigger
- Cocktail Strainer
- Double Rocks Glass
- Mixing Spoon
- Spray Bottle
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Small Saucepan
- Measuring Cup
- Smoke Pub Smoker
Ingredients – Serves 1
- 2 oz Rye Whiskey
- .25 oz Ginger Cinnamon Syrup (1 cup water + 1 cup demerara sugar + 3 slices of fresh ginger (peeled) + 2 cinnamon sticks)
- 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- Absinthe Rinse (Absinthia)
- Cherry wood chips for smoker
- Lemon peel for garnish
Method
- Make the Ginger Cinnamon Syrup. Add the water, demerara sugar, ginger and cinnamon to a small saucepan. Stir. Heat on medium until it comes to a boil. Stir again. Turn heat down to low and let simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour into a glass container and keep in the fridge for 3 weeks.
- Make the Cocktail. Place a double rocks glass in the freezer to chill. You can also add ice and water to the glass and let sit. Add the whiskey, ginger cinnamon syrup, Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters to a mixing glass. Stir with bar spoon. Add ice and stir again chilling thoroughly. Take glass out of freezer and spray the inside of the glass with absinthe to rinse. You can alternately pour .25 oz absinthe in your glass, swirl it around and discard the rest. Strain the cocktail into the prepared rocks glass.
- Smoke the Cocktail. Place 2 scoops cherry wood chips in the Smoke Pub Smoker. Set directly on top of the rocks glass and turn on. Smoke until it turns off (15 seconds). Lift the smoker off and let the smoke evaporate a little. Express a lemon peel over the cocktail (squeeze/ twist the lemon peel (peel side down) and run the peel around the edge of your glass. Cheers!
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