How To Make The New Orleans Sazerac Cocktail - Building A Drink: Your Ultimate Guide to Mixed Drink and Cocktail Recipes

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of an old-fashioned glass, and saturate with the bitters. Add ice and pour in the bourbon, Herb- saint, and lemon juice.  Twist the lemon peel over the drink, and drop it in.

This New Orleans classic is as charming as a soft Southern drawl.  As cocktail legend has it, it was the first drink to be concocted and specifically called a cocktail. Around the 1830s, a Frenchman named Peychaud was behind the counter of his Pharmacie in New Orleans, serving up this elixir in a cocquetier, or egg cup. When mis- pronounced, according to the tale, cocquetier resulted in the term "cocktail." He came up with this drink, originally made with Cognac and his Peychaud's bitters, as a vehicle for his soothing digestive creation. By the 1850s, the cocktail had become enormously popular, and it had been given the name "Sazerac" after an imported French Cognac, Sazerac de Forge et Fils, that was used to make it. By 1870, the ingredients had changed, as drinking establishments opted for the cheaper American rye whiskey to replace Cognac and absinthe was introduced into the equation. Once absinthe became illegal, Pernod replaced it.

Traditionally made with good-quality Cognac, or its replacement of rye whiskey (such as Old Overholt), the Sazerac is now often preferred with a great bourbon such as Knob Creek or Maker's Mark. In New Orleans, Herbsaint, a local anise-flavored liqueur, is favored over Pernod.

Later recipes have added a sugar cube and water, but the following is the original method. The glass must be thoroughly chilled, and although Sazerac purists will tell you not to drop twist in the drink, a subtle spritz of lemon oil is quite a pletition, Drop it in if you prefer.