Old Fashioned family
Sazerac
Made with classic simple syrup · Sazerac Coffee House, New Orleans, 1890
- rocks
- none (served up)
- stir
Sazerac
- 2 oz60 ml rye whiskey
- ½ oz15 ml simple syrup (1:1)
- 2 dashes2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
- 1 barspoon1 barspoon absinthe or Herbsaint, to rinse the glass
- Chill a rocks glass. Swirl the absinthe around the inside to coat it, then pour out the extra.
- In a mixing glass, stir the rye, syrup and Peychaud's with ice until very cold.
- Strain into the rinsed glass with no ice.
- Twist a lemon peel over the surface to release its oils, then drop it in or discard it.
Garnish: lemon peel, expressed over the top
The syrup
In this recipe
Classic Simple Syrup½ oz15 ml
Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, heated just until the sugar dissolves.
As printed: 1/2 oz simple syrup (1:1) (Punch, Imbibe); Savoy and Sazerac Co.: 1 sugar cube
Or use
Cold-Process Simple Syrup (No Heat)½ oz15 ml
Yes, you can make simple syrup without heat: shake equal weights of sugar and room-temperature water in a sealed jar, rest, and shake again until no crystals remain, about 15 minutes.
As printed: 1/2 oz simple syrup (1:1)
Or use
Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)⅓ oz10 ml
Rich simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water by weight: 400 g sugar dissolved in 200 ml hot water.
2:1 is about 1.5x as sweet, so use 2 tsp (1/3 oz).
As printed: 1/2 oz simple syrup (1:1)
Or use
Demerara Syrup⅓ oz10 ml
Demerara syrup is demerara sugar dissolved in water, usually rich: 2 parts sugar to 1 part water by weight.
Same as VinePair's ratio scaled to 2 oz rye: 2 tsp (1/3 oz) of our 2:1 demerara syrup.
As printed: VinePair: 1/2 oz demerara syrup per 3 oz rye
Where it comes from
The drink takes its name from the Sazerac de Forge cognac served at New Orleans's Sazerac Coffee House. It switched to rye in the later 1800s, was first printed in reliable form by Bill Boothby in 1908, and became New Orleans's official cocktail in 2008.
Source: The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock (1930).
Checked against: Punch – Sazerac · Imbibe Magazine – Sazerac Cocktail Recipe · Cocktail Kingdom Library – Sazerac · The Daily Meal – The Official Sazerac Cocktail Recipe (Sazerac Co.) · The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) – archive.org scan
The Savoy Cocktail Book (Harry Craddock)
Gear for this drink
Mixology & Craft 16-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set
OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger
Best for Measuring syrup into drinks
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