Sazerac
New Orleans' oldest cocktail, ready in your freezer
About this cocktail
The Sazerac is among the strongest claimants to 'America's first cocktail.' It started in New Orleans in the 1830s with Sazerac de Forge cognac, then shifted to rye whiskey when phylloxera wiped out the French vineyards in the 1870s. The drink is rye, a small amount of simple syrup, Peychaud's bitters, and an absinthe rinse. As a freezer batch the rye and syrup go in the bottle; the bitters and absinthe rinse happen at the moment of service. Final ABV lands around 40%, so go easy.
Pick a cocktail to batch
Shaken citrus drinks pick up more water from ice. Spirit-forward stirred drinks need less; freezer batches often need none.
Your Batch
Aim for around 22% ABV or higher to keep the batch pourable in the freezer.
Remove this much spirit to make room. Save it for later.
How to serve
Rinse a chilled rocks glass with a few drops of absinthe (swirl, then dump). Pour the rye-and-syrup mix in. Add 3 dashes of Peychaud's. Express a lemon peel over the surface and discard the peel.
★ Pro tips
- + Use rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water) so a quarter-ounce sweetens properly
- + Peychaud's at the moment of service is the traditional method. To batch the bitters instead, use 1.5 tsp Peychaud's per 750ml batch
- + The absinthe rinse is a wash, not an addition. A few drops in the empty glass, swirled and dumped. The aroma sticks
- + Express a lemon peel over the surface and discard
! Avoid these
- − Using a sweet bourbon instead of rye (the spice is the point)
- − Skipping the absinthe rinse (it is doing more work than you think)
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