Sazerac Cocktail

Hi Gary,
I will try it again with the syrup and no water next time. I planning on mixing up a small bottle of the bitters, Cointreau ahead of time. And next time I will use maple syrup as per your original post.
Ed

Maple syrup works very well because being derived from trees it seems to complement perfectly a wood-aged product such as bourbon. The drink behind the slight sweetness should have a faint hint of anise and bitters. It is one of those cocktails where the balance really is crucial to the success of the drink. I use pre-sweetened blends of straight whiskey to make it. Another idea is to add a dash of Southern Comfort for the sweet element. The apricot/peach note of the cordial is perfect for such drinks. If say you use Angostura or another kind of bitters the citrus-like notes of the Comfort together with the zesty bitter produce a kind of orange bitters effect - perfect since the drink originally would often have contained this. The idea (as with many cocktails) is to get a balance of sour or tart (bitters), sweet, strong (whiskey) and weak (water or ice where used - again logic compels the answer - if you use 100 proof or higher you may want to add water, I don't because my whiskey blends are about 80-90 proof on average). The old Planter's Punch formula of the British Caribbean was "one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak". The four of weak sounds high but it may have been devised in the light of the overproof whiskey and rum of the day. And of course in a warm climate a long drink was often preferred. Anyway once you adjust the formula to your specific liking you can apply it for Whiskey Sours, Old-Fashioneds, Manhattans and a range of other cocktails both whiskey and non since most are built on a similar principle.

Gary

Okay Gary, I tried this last night. Used Old Overholt as the base and pushed the envelope using Chartreuse as the glass coating. Peychaud and Reagan Orange bitters. 1t maple syrup. I think the Chartreuse worked well blending the herbal notes with the two bitters.

Not sure it will ever become a regular thing but it was 'interesting'. I had the impression it was a flat, grown up sodapop.... There was something very familiar about it. Maybe horehound candy?? The bitters and the herbs blended together nicely. I tried a sip before the maple. It needed the maple. Good suggestion!

Thanks,

Ken

I've been watching this thread for a while so thought I'd post a recipe I posted here last year. It's for the technically inclined.

Since then I've tried many versions of the Sazerac. IMHO none compare to the recipe below.

I'm all for experimentation myself but sorry guys, I'm not convinced you can still call it a true "Sazerac" with the addition of either maple syrup or Chartreuse (no offence, Gary).

There is another bitters worth trying in substitution for the Peychaud's. It's an Orange bitters from Fee Brothers (Rochester, N.Y.).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The recipe is complicated, but well worth the effort. It's a definite winner.

Sazerac
(From "sauceguide to Cocktails", Difford's sauceguide volume 4)

glass: old fashioned

1 shot Absinthe
Top up with chilled water
1 shot quality bourbon
1 shot cognac
1/2 shot sugar syrup (gomme)
3 dashes Angostora bitters
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

METHOD
Fill glass with ice, pour in Absinthe, top up with water and leave the mixture in the glass. Separately shake Bourbon, Cognac, sugar syrup and bitters with ice. Finally (and this is the important part) discard the entire contents of the original glass (Absinthe, water, ice) and strain contents of shaker into empty Absinthe-coated glass.

ORIGIN
This drink hails form the old days of New Orleans. At 10 Exchange Alley, John B. Schiller set up the Sazerac Coffee House - as he was the agent for Sazerac Cognacs, he made this cocktail originally with brandy. The Sazerac Company which developed from the Sazerac Coffee House now also markets Peychaud's bitters, an essential component of this drink and first made in 1793.

Sauce Guide Comment: Don't be concerned about chucking the expensive Absinthe down the drain... its flavour will be very eveident in the finished drink. Made correctly, this is a delightfully interesting herbal classic.

MY COMMENTS:
1. I used Absinthe as per the recipe but I did not discard the contents of the glass. I simply put them in a highball glass with a bit more water and my wife enjoyed an nice drink.
2. In the absence of Absinthe, one could attempt to substitute pernod or similar anise based apertif (possibly, although I have not tried this)
3. I didn't have any Remy available so I used a suitable french brandy substitute
4. I generally don't mix my bourbon, neither with other spirits, nor with sweet adjuncts. However, there's something about the origin of this drink, it's other contents, plus the source of this recipe ("sauce guide" to cocktails) that moved me to mix the drink for a friend last weekend and we both agreed it was great.
5. As Buffalo Trace was a sponsor for the Sauce Guide, this bourbon was identified as ideal for the drink. I did use Buffalo Trace with fantastic results.
6. For a more detailed article on the Sazerac, plus a couple of additional recipes, check here.

Enjoy!

Sounds great, well done, and Ken for your version, too.

The maple syrup thing is just a variation - I suspect sugar syrup in the mid-1800's was often brown in color from unrefined`sugar, so the maple syrup thing seems close to that in my view. The key is to use a small amount of sucrose and different kinds will I think answer the purpose. This drink really is a kind of grown-up pop drink, well put, Ken.

Gary

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As I sit here trapped in the house by a monsoon, I've been enjoying my own interpretation of the Gillman Sazerac.

* Pour a small amount of Sambucca into a snifter and swirl around. Dump any excess.
* Add 1 tsp maple syrup.
* Add 2 oz. Four Roses SB or other high-rye bourbon.
* Add 1 tsp Stirings Blood Orange bitters (don't know how this rates in the world of bitters, but it looked interesting).
* Swirl vigorously, sniff, sip, enjoy.

Marvelous!

Sounds great Mike. I don't know how bitter that quantity of bitters would be, I might have used a quarter teaspoon only, but it sounds very good.

I have found that a low-rye bourbon just doesn't make it with this drink.

You need a high rye bourbon or rye proper or a blend of rye and bourbon.

Gary

Gary,

You brought up a good point that might freak people out about my above recipe. This brand of bitters comes in a fairly large bottle and I think is FAR less concentrated than most. A dash or 2 would hardly be noticed. At 1 tsp., I finally got a nice herbal undertone, reminding me of Chartreuse or Benedictine liquor.

I picked up some Angostora bitters last week and decided to make a Sazerac. I have some Absinthe that my wife brought back to me from the Czech Republic. I used about a 1/4 teaspoon to coat the inside of a chilled glass. I mixed 2 ounces of Sazerac Rye Whiskey 6YO with a tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of bitters and added to the chilled glass. It was excellent!