The Sazerac Wrap Up

After a long and, I must say, well deserved break from my regular Cocktail Hacker duties (of drinking heavily), I am now back, dear reader, back to provide you with final notes from our week with the Sazerac cocktail.

The Sazerac has been claimed, by some, to be the first American cocktail or, as claimed by others, to be the first cocktail ever.  (Though none of this is true.)  Originally a brandy based drink rumored to have been served in an egg cup, as all truly great cocktails must be, the Sazerac is now traditionally made with rye whiskey and served in a Sazerac glass or, on occasion, a simple old fashioned glass.

Never one to shy away from experimentation, my first instinct was to create and consume the “original” (perhaps legendary?) brandy based cocktail.  However, unable to procure an egg cup, or coqueteir (if you prefer), I was forced to follow a typical Sazerac recipe substituting Cognac for rye whiskey.  This is my failing, dear reader,  and I will not let it happen again!  It must be said, however, the brandy based Sazerac is one delicious cocktail.  Certainly worth a try and very different from the typical rye based drink.

Having said all of that, I don’t believe that Reese or myself ever strayed too far from the traditional Sazerac recipe, in our experimentation.  The recipe already being fairly lax as to the overall quantities of required ingredients.  Reese, simplified the recipe to the following steps:

1.) Soak sugar cube with Peychaud's add to glass
2.) Add 1 tsp water
3.) Add 1 dash of Absinthe
4.) Stir until sugar is dissolved
5.) Add 2 oz Rye
6.) Add 1 ice cube
7.) Stir until chilled
8.) Add a twist of lemon

The drink produced is complex and delicious.  And, Reese has declared it to be one of his favorite recipes so far, describing it as “nicely balanced, not overly sweet, not overly bitters-y”.

I must say that I agree.