Sazerac (New Orleans Style)
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 29.8% ABV ∙
The Sazerac stirs rye whiskey with sugar syrup and Creole-style bitters, served in an absinthe-rinsed old-fashioned glass — an original American classic. Silky and undiluted, with a licorice-tinged whisper on the nose that fades into a warm, spiced finish lingering long after the last sip.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In a mixing glass, stir the remaining ingredients with ice: Rye whiskey 45 mlSugar syrup 10 mlCreole-style bitters 3 dashes
- Discard the ice from the chilled glass, rinse with Absinthe, and discard the excess
- Strain the cocktail into the Absinthe-rinsed glass
- Garnish with a lemon twist
Tips
- Pre-chill the serving glass fully before the absinthe rinse — a warm glass lets the rinse evaporate too fast to coat it.
- Swirl the absinthe to coat the entire interior, then tip out the excess so it perfumes the glass without pooling.
- Stir the rye, syrup, and bitters over ice for a full 30 seconds — this is a spirit-only build, so it needs proper dilution to soften.
- Express the lemon twist over the drink just before serving, then set it on the rim rather than dropping it in.
History
"New Orleans Style" designates this drink as the city's classic, traditionally built Sazerac, made with rye whiskey and an absinthe rinse, as opposed to brandy-based or other modern reworkings of the cocktail served elsewhere. No separate creation story exists for a "New Orleans Style" label itself; it simply signals fidelity to the drink as it developed in its city of origin.
The Sazerac is widely regarded as one of America's oldest named cocktails, tracing to mid-19th-century New Orleans. Popular tradition credits it to Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who served brandy toddies flavored with his own bitters in his French Quarter pharmacy, though several cocktail historians dispute that he invented the drink in its familiar form. The name comes from Sazerac de Forge et Fils cognac, poured at the Sazerac Coffee House, a French Quarter bar later owned by Thomas Handy that helped popularize the drink. As a phylloxera-driven brandy shortage hit France in the mid-1800s, rye whiskey gradually replaced cognac as the base spirit, and an absinthe rinse became part of the standard build; the earliest known published recipe appeared in 1908.
