Now,
I’m usually not much of a whiskey drinker unless it’s a finger of good
scotch at the end of the night. Me? I tend to gravitate towards gin
and tequila. The Beloved, on the other hand likes her whiskies,
preferably bourbon.
But I’ve developed an interest in classic cocktails. One of the firsts posts I did in this series was the Chelsea Sidecar – which reminds me that I ought to do a straight up Sidecar one of these days.
But
if you’re going to go into classic cocktails, you have to think New
Orleans, and if you think New Orleans, you think — NO! Not a
“Hurricane”!! – you think Sazerac.
The Sazerac is a cocktail made
with rye or bourbon, with a dash of sweet, offset by bitters. It is a
great sipping drink on a warm late summer’s evening.
You’ll need:
2 oz rye or bourbon (I used bourbon)
½ oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Splash of Herbsaint
Herbaint is a anise-flavored liquor that became a substitute for absinthe when it was outlawed in the US.
Take
your glass, splash the glass with Herbsaint, add about a half glass of
ice. Cover the glass with your hand and shake vigorously so that the
Herbsaint coats the inside of the glass. Discard the ice and excess
Herbsaint.
Now, add both bitters to the bottom of the glass,
then the bourbon and follow with the simple syrup. Mix and add fresh
ice. Traditionally, the garnish is a lemon twist, but I like
maraschino cherries, so there.
Stevil 
Sounds good! Is there a technique for "splashing" ?
Just think, if the whole chemistry thing doesn't work out for you, you can always be a bartender :)
This drink sounds great. I too like the old school cocktails. I tell people I am a fan of the holy trinity +1 “Vodka, Gin, Bourbon and Scotch”. Save the umbrellas for the beach.
Thanks for posting the recipe. Now I need to get some herbsaint.
I've never even tasted anything like that, growing up in a Mennonite household. But that is one beautiful photograph with the way the light interacts with the glass and labels. Beautiful!
Zak — it's just a little more vigorous than "dashing" … ;) Actually, you don't use that much, since you toss most of it. Herbsaint is really strongly flavored and will take over most drinks if there's too much in it.
Believe me Hannah, with the way the biotech and pharma industries are going these days…. it's a consideration!! :)
Thanks Kletterman! It took me a while to find a right recipe for me. The smeared-all-around-the-glass dash of herbsaint really is the key, I think.I'm not opposed to a fruity drink now and again, but those are usually mid-day vacation at the beach affairs… :)
Thanks AC, there was great sunset light coming in the window when I took the picture. :)
Ouch! Don't tell me that. (Todd said that his company just sent a company-wide e-mail this week saying lay-offs are coming…Crap.)
I'm not sure if I would like the taste of this drink but I LOVE the name – too cool!
My culinary warrior friend JSin says that the Sazerac is what you order when you want to test if a bartender really knows his stuff. Nice! (Though, I've tried one, and my palate isn't ready for it…)
Hapa — well, I don't know if mine would stand up to a culinary warrior, but there was a pretty good deal of trial-and-error to get the ingredients, ratios, and preparation to where I liked it! :)
Sooooo.Silly question, but why am I shaking the herbsaint in the glass with ice then tossing the ice? Why not just swirl some around in the glass then if there is any left toss it.Do you suppose that a guy who's planning to buy some absinthe could sub absinthe for herbsaint? Sure it will cost a bit more per drink but that way I don't have to buy two bottles.Bourbon is one of my two "will not drink" drinks (the one is beer) but I'm really curious to try this.
(Fish)!! You can swirl the herbsaint in the glass instead of shaking with ice, but in my tests, I was able to get a more consistent flavor by shaking with ice. There also be something to getting the glass cold.I believe that absinthe would work — and there's no requirement for bourbon — the classic ingredient is rye whiskey. I'm not much of a whiskey drinker either, but I like this drink.