Sazerac recipe
New Orleans' official cocktail — anise, rye, and a century of history.
Method: Stir ·
Glass: Rocks glass (chilled, no ice) ·
Time: 5 min ·
Difficulty: Intermediate ·
Family: The Old Fashioned Family
Ingredients
- 2 oz Rye Whiskey (Sazerac Rye or Rittenhouse)
- 1 tsp Simple Syrup (or 1 sugar cube)
- 3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
- Rinse Absinthe (Herbsaint or Pernod)
How to make a Sazerac
- Chill a rocks glass by filling it with ice and setting aside.
- In a mixing glass, muddle the sugar cube with Peychaud's bitters and a splash of water (or use simple syrup).
- Add rye whiskey and ice. Stir for 30 seconds.
- Dump the ice from the chilled rocks glass. Rinse it with absinthe — swirl to coat, discard excess.
- Strain the stirred mixture into the absinthe-rinsed glass (no ice).
- Express a lemon peel over the surface and discard it.
Garnish
Lemon peel, expressed and discarded (not dropped in).
Pro tip
The absinthe rinse is the soul of this drink. Don't skip it, but don't overdo it either — you want a whisper of anise, not a shout.
History of the Sazerac
Created in the 1830s by Antoine Peychaud in his New Orleans apothecary, originally made with cognac. It switched to rye whiskey after the phylloxera epidemic devastated French vineyards. It became the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008.
Flavour profile
Anise, Spice, Herbal, Warm
Variations
- Cognac Sazerac — Use cognac instead of rye for the original 1830s version
- Split-Base Sazerac — 1 oz rye + 1 oz cognac — the best of both worlds
Practise making the Sazerac in the free Virtual Bar game.