Sazerac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| A Sazerac at the Sazerac Bar, Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans | |
| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Served | Neat; undiluted and without ice |
| Standard garnish | Lemon peel |
| Standard drinkware |
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| Commonly used ingredients |
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| Preparation | 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 Absinthe is poured into the glass and swirled to coat the sides of the glass. Any excess Absinthe is discarded. The Rye-Sugar-Bitters mixture is then poured into the Absinthe coated glass and the glass is garnished with a lemon peel. |
| Notes | Originally, the Sazerac was made and served in an egg cup called a "coquetier"--a word speculated by some linguists to be the origin of the word "cocktail". |
The Sazerac is one of the oldest known cocktails,[citation needed] with its origins in pre-Civil War New Orleans, Louisiana. The original drink is based on a combination of Cognac and bitters created by Antoine Amédée Peychaud in the 1830s, and is reported to be the first cocktail ever invented in America.[1] Since its creation, many different recipes have evolved for the drink, usually involving some combination of Cognac, rye whiskey, absinthe or Herbsaint and Peychaud's Bitters.
The Sazerac cocktail was named by John Schiller in 1859 upon the opening of his Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans. Both most likely derive their name from a popular brand of Cognac, Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils.
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[edit] Preparation
The defining feature of the Sazerac is the preparation of an old-fashioned, Western-style glass with absinthe or pastis. Pernod, Herbsaint, Absente and green Chartreuse are common substitutes although they are not made from grande wormwood, the traditional type of wormwood used in pre-ban absinthes. (Absinthe has been de-criminalized in the United States since 2007.)
According to the Sazerac Company of New Orleans, the modern day Sazerac Cocktail recipe calls for 1 cube of sugar, 1 1/2 ounces of Sazerac Rye Whiskey, 1/4 ounce of Herbsaint, 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters and a lemon peel. One old-fashioned-Western-style glass is packed with ice. In a second old fashioned, Western-style 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-Western-style 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.
The original Sazerac Cocktail was a cognac based drink. In the 1870s, cognac was replaced with Rye Whiskey, and absinthe was added.[citation needed] Some modern recipes do, however, retain some amount of cognac.
[edit] Historical information
A recipe for the Sazerac is listed in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) as well as Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em (1937) by Stanley Clisby Arthur. The Professional Mixing Guide (1957) produced by The Angostura-Whuppermann Corporation contains an entry for the Sazerac, but not a recipe. Instead, it states:
"Out of respect for the property rights of others, no attempt is made herein to list any recipe for a Sazerac. Others have, on occasion, printed what purported to be a recipe for a 'Sazerac Cocktail,' but so far as it is known, the genuine recipe is still a deep, dark secret."
In March 2008, Louisiana state senator Edwin Murray (D-New Orleans) filed Senate Bill 6 designating the Sazerac as Louisiana's official state cocktail. The bill was defeated on April 8, 2008. Although the state Senate approved the bill for New Orleans only, the state House reversed the bill to its original form. The Senate rejected the bill again, sending it to conference committee. The panel said it should be the official New Orleans cocktail and the Senate agreed. The House failed to concur. On June 23, 2008 the House proclaimed the Sazerac as New Orleans' official cocktail.
[edit] In Popular Culture
In W.E.B. Griffin's Honor Bound series Sazerac is a favorite drink of Office of Strategic Services agent Cletus Frade.
In W.E.B. Griffin's Presidential Agent series Sazeracs are featured in both The Shooters, and Black Ops.
In the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the Sazerac cocktail is Thomas Button's drink of choice, and the first alcoholic beverage that Benjamin consumed.
In Elmore Leonard's Bandits, Jack Delaney starts drinking Sazerac after becoming reacquainted with Helene, a woman he had met in the past at the Sazerac Lounge of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans.
In the Andy Griffith Show episode "Andy's Rich Girlfriend," his date (Peggy McMillan) orders a Sazerac, calling it "sort of a New Orleans drink."
The song "Have I Got A Girl For You" from the 1970 Broadway Musical Company by Stephen Sondheim refers to the drink with the lyric: "She has a weakness for Sazerac Slings/give her even the fruit and she swings."
The Sazerac cocktail is an important element in the 1948 Frank Capra movie State of the Union starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007) |
- The Sazerac Company - producers of Peychaud's Bitters and Herbsaint
- The Original Sazerac Cocktail - Recipe from The Sazerac Company's page on Peychaud's Bitters
