La Tour Eiffel
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 32.4% ABV ∙
The La Tour Eiffel is a stirred cognac cocktail cut with triple sec, gentian liqueur, and a dash of absinthe, strained into a flute glass with a lemon twist. Silky and cool from the stir, with a bittersweet edge and a faint anise whisper, finishing long and warm on the palate.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Cognac 75 mlTriple sec 15 mlGentian liqueur 15 mlAbsinthe 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Pre-chill the flute before straining — the pour is small and warms fast in a room-temperature glass.
- Use only a dash of absinthe; more than a rinse-sized amount will override the gentian liqueur's bitterness.
- Stir over ice until the outside of the mixing vessel frosts, roughly 20-30 seconds, since this is spirit-only with no juice to mask under-dilution.
- Express the lemon twist directly over the drink's surface before dropping it in — the oils carry more aroma than the peel itself.
History
La Tour Eiffel is a modern Sazerac riff created in 2007 by bartender and drinks writer Gary "Gaz" Regan during a visit to the Cognac region of France, where he had been asked to devise new Cognac-based cocktails. Regan set out to imagine how the Sazerac might have turned out had it been invented in France rather than New Orleans, noting that the original Sazerac itself was first mixed with Cognac before rye whiskey became standard.
To carry the French theme, Regan kept the Sazerac's absinthe rinse but swapped its sugar and Peychaud's bitters for French liqueurs, pairing an orange liqueur with a gentian-based aperitif such as Suze in place of the bitters. The drink takes its name from the Eiffel Tower as a symbol of France, reflecting its concept as a French counterpart to the New Orleans classic.
