Sazerac Cocktail 8 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Bols Genever Gin)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

One question I have is how far can you stretch the method or ingredients for making a Sazerac, and still have something that tastes like one. This is especially pertinent when you consider the Sazerac Cocktail was originally made with Cognac, not Rye Whiskey at all.

A drink which David Wondrich has popularized in his books “Imbibe” and “Killer Cocktails” is the “Improved Holland Gin Cock-Tail”. It is composed of 2 oz of Genever, a dash of Maraschino, Aromatic Bitters, a dash of Absinthe and simple syrup. It is stirred and strained into a cocktail glass. Usually garnished with a lemon twist.

Sound a bit familiar? The addition of the Maraschino and type of bitters are about all that separate an “Improved Holland Gin Cock-tail” from a Sazerac.  Thus, it really wasn’t much of a stretch to imagine Genever in a Sazerac.

What happens when you give Bols Genever the Sazerac treatment?

Why, in fact, it is quite delicious! Instead of the sharpness of Rye, you get a mellow maltiness from the Genever. Also, the less impactful Genever allows the adjunct ingredients to come to the fore. The aromatic herbs of the Absinthe and the Peychaud’s are what shine in this version of a Sazerac Cocktail.

But is it a Sazerac?  While it would be amusing to put this in front of someone asking for a Sazerac, no.  On the other hand, it seems a lot closer to the spirit of that drink than one made with many of the richer Bourbons.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 7 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Wild Turkey Rye)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

So this whole cocktail thing kind of started with the Sazerac.

I’d read about them and heard the stories, but had never really had one. Even tried to make myself one or two.

When we traveled to New Orleans for my birthday a few years back, we kind of went on a Sazerac quest. Ordering them at whatever bars would make them for us. Some good, some bad, but most not outstanding.

However, when I ordered one at d.b.a. on Frenchman Street the young bartender bothered to ask me which Rye Whiskey. When I asked for her recommendation and she said, “I’ll make it with Wild Turkey Rye, if you don’t mind,” I knew I’d found someone who thought like me.

I really like Wild Turkey Rye for drinks like Old Fashioneds and Sazeracs. There’s just something about its brawny character that especially works for me in “naked” cocktails.

So far, I’d put this as my second favorite Sazerac Cocktail of the month.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 6 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Old Overholt Rye)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

Old Overholt Rye Whiskey sits in the middle. A tasty enough Rye, with a good bit of character, it is mostly a bit lacking in “Oooomph”. As many a booze soaked New York dipsomaniac has lamented, a 90 or a 100 proof version of this Rye would go a long way towards resurrecting this history laden brand.

I did mention they basically only drink overproof spirits in New York, didn’t I? Something about the cold weather, I think.

Anyway, this is a perfectly fine Sazerac, and Old Overholt is just about the most likely Whiskey for a Sazerac to be made with in New Orleans, so it is worth getting to know.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 5 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

Rittenhouse 100 (Or sometimes called “Bonded”) seems to be the default Rye Whiskey for New York bars. Just about every time you read about a Rye Whiskey cocktail from New York, it calls for Rittenhouse 100. I’m not sure if it is the low key easy mixing nature of this whiskey that is so attractive, or the fact that it is 100 proof. Actually, I’m pretty sure the real reason is it so widely used is that it usually retails for around $15.

Unfortunately, for a long time, Rittenhouse wasn’t available on the West Coast. Even today, while it is usually available, the supplies often come and go, I guess with the whims of the distributor.

For the price, it is a very good Rye, which is flexible enough to mix well in just about any cocktail you throw at it. However, for me, it shines more in drinks like Manhattans, Brooklyns, Red Hooks, and Little Italys.

In a Sazerac, it doesn’t quite bring enough to the party. For a cocktail as naked as the Sazerac I like the Rye to have a bit more bite and character than the Rittenhouse.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 4 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Hudson Manhattan Rye)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

One of the fun things about Sazeracs is sharing them.

It’s kind of a labor intensive cocktail, to make for one person.

However, a pitcher of Sazeracs is really only nominally more work than a single cocktail.

I didn’t quite make a pitcher, this time.

However, I couldn’t not make this version of the Sazerac for the wonderful Mrs. Flannestad. After all, a few years ago, when she was visiting New York for business, she took the train and bus all the way to Red Hook to get it for me. It used to be quite a journey to visit the storied LeNell’s liquor store.

But now, you have to go all the way to Mexico to visit LeNell at Casa Cocktel!  Makes the ride on the B61 seem not so bad.

Anyway, the Hudson Manhattan Rye makes a pretty fabulous, if a bit brawny, Sazerac.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 3 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey, Plump Jack Barrel Select)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

It’s interesting to compare the Sazerac 18 Rye with the Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey. Both are great whiskeys, and there’s definitely a familial resemblance in the character of the whiskey, but the Sazerac 18 has so much more subtlety and grace. To be honest, I’m not over fond of Sazeracs made with the Sazerac Straight. To me, this whiskey works best in Sours, not aromatic cocktails.

Still, I’m not kicking this one out of bed, even if it isn’t my favorite.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 2 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (Generous Bar Spoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Sazerac 18 Rye Whiskey, 2005)

Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled and rinsed with Absinthe  (Sirene Absinthe Verte) and squeeze lemon peel on top.

As part of my birthday gift to my self, in October of every year, I give Drew at the Plump Jack Wine Store in Noe Valley a call and tell him to be on the lookout for the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. I give him my preferences for which whiskeys to save for me, usually having tried them at Whiskey Fest.

I almost always ask for the Sazerac 18 Rye, Thomas Handy Rye, William Weller Bourbon. Sometimes I splurge on a bottle of George T. Stagg (aka Hazmat).

I’ve been rationing this particular bottle of Sazerac 18 since the beginning of this little obsession. It is one of my absolute favorite Rye Whiskeys.

It makes an absolutely fabulous Sazerac, possibly my all time favorite.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Sazerac Cocktail 1 out of 28.

I have challenged myself to post 28 Sazeracs in 28 days for the month of February.

I’ll try some different spirits, try some out at bars, and have some friends make them for me. Hopefully, if I can get my act together we’ll have some video.

Sazerac Cocktail.
1 Lump of Sugar. (1 lump demerara sugar)
1 Dash Angostura or Peychana Bitters. (a couple dashes Peychaud’s Bitters)
1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz Pikesville Rye Whiskey)

(Soak sugar cube with bitters, muddle in mixing glass and…) Stir well and strain into another glass that has been cooled, add l dash Absinthe and squeeze lemon peel on top.

This is the first Sazerac, and I followed the Savoy recipe to the letter.

Interestingly, I was reading somewhere or another about sugar. It always seems semi authentic to muddle a sugar cube, but in point of fact, it’s not very 19th century at all. In Olden Tymes, sugar would have been cut or ground from a loaf, not formed into sugar cubes. Odds are, most bartenders in the 19th century would have been using some version of gomme or simple syrup. Sugar cubes would have been the province of tea parties and the upper class, not most bars.

In fact, according to the wikpedia article on Henry Tate, it was not until 1872 that, “he purchased the patent from German Eugen Langen on a method of making sugar cubes, and in the same year built a new refinery in Liverpool.”  Langen may invented his patented method for forming sugar cubes a bit earlier than this, but as far as I know cubes were not widely distributed before Tate’s introduction.  Yes, the same Henry Tate whose name now graces a rather nice art gallery in London.

Pikesville and the muddled cube make for a somewhat average, if not spectacular, Sazerac.  Interestingly, I’ve recently heard rumors that Pikesville and the 80 proof version of Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey are the exact same whiskeys, just packaged in different bottles.  Hmmm.  Perhaps a side by side blind tasting is in order.  Though this Sazerac did actually kill my bottle of Pikesville.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Same Drink, Different Name.  Different Drink, Same Name.

DJ Hawaiian Shirt has recently had a bit of a bug up his butt about how similar many of these Savoy Cocktails are, commenting,  “I’m peeved by the liberal naming of new cocktails when they’re almost 100% the same.”

I can’t say I’m that “peeved” exactly, having developed a certain fondness for drinks composed of 2/3 Gin, 1/3 Dry Vermouth.  But to explain the factors as I see them.

First, some have called “The Savoy Cocktail Book” the first example of cocktail “shovelware”.

That is to say, a bunch of different books compiled into a single book, with little or no editorial input.  Personally, I always imagine Harry Craddock’s involvement in the thing as walking into an office with a pile of his pre-prohibition cocktail books and maybe the Savoy “Black Book” of recipes.  Telling them to have at it, and then going back to running the bar without ever really peeking back in at the result.  How else to explain all the typos and misprints?

We know his sources included Robert Vermeire, Harry McElhone, Judge Jr., and Hugo Ensslin.  Undoubtedly there are others, the South African book with all the Caperitif recipes for example.  Or the home cocktail and entertaining manual with all the recipes for multiple guests.

So that’s one reason, there are a few different recipes with the same name, or different recipes with the same name.  There are, after all, only so many ingredients in the classic cocktail canon.

A recent experience at Heaven’s Dog, highlighted another possible explanation.

A customer asked me for a drink that Lane Ford, (now of Delarosa,) had been making for them.

I sent Lane a text, asking him for the recipe for his, “Derby Fizz”.

He texted back with the recipe adding, “It’s really just EA’s Whiskey Fizz, from our bar book.”

On one hand, you could get peeved.  On the other hand, he’d thought up a memorable new name for a tasty drink that had been languishing under an uninspired moniker.  Memorable enough, that customers requested that drink under its new name.  Kind of genius, really.

Drinks don’t get made for lots of reasons pretty independent of their ultimate tastiness.  If they are too complicated, techniques too difficult, or the ingredients too obscure.  Or if the names don’t inspire customers or bartenders.

Nothing wrong with thinking up a better name for the same cocktail.

Oh boy!

S.a.z.e.r.a.c.

Just about my favorite cocktail, and arguably the single cocktail that started me on this whole cocktail crazy train!

Oh, but January.

January, we traditionally take as a month of rest, no cocktails and drinking.  Or, well, not much, anyway.

But February, hm…  February contains: Mardi Gras. King Cake.  New Orleans.  Gumbo.  Fat Tuesday. Po Boys…

What to do to celebrate?

I have a lot of Rye Whiskey, I bet I could almost fill half the month just making Sazeracs with every different Rye.  Maybe get some friends to participate!  Video!  Photo shoots!

What about 28 days, 28 Sazeracs?!  Sounds just crazy enough to suit my ambition.

I’ll see you in a few weeks!