Name: Sazerac
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Ingredients: 2 oz Rye whiskey (Bulleit Rye, Rittenhouse, or Sazerac 6-Year); ½ tsp Simple syrup (or 1 sugar cube dissolved in 2 dashes water); 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters (NOT Angostura — Peychaud's is essential); Absinthe (for the rinse — Pernod Absinthe works well); Lemon peel to garnish — express over the glass and discard; do NOT drop it in

Ingredients

2 oz Rye whiskey (Bulleit Rye, Rittenhouse, or Sazerac 6-Year)
½ tsp Simple syrup (or 1 sugar cube dissolved in 2 dashes water)
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters (NOT Angostura — Peychaud's is essential)
Absinthe (for the rinse — Pernod Absinthe works well)
Lemon peel to garnish — express over the glass and discard; do NOT drop it in

Method

1

Chill a rocks glass with icePlace ice in a rocks glass. Set aside.
2

Build in a mixing glassIn a separate mixing glass, combine rye whiskey, simple syrup, and Peychaud's bitters.
3

Add ice and stirAdd ice to the mixing glass and stir for 25–30 seconds.
4

Rinse the chilled glassDiscard the ice from the rocks glass. Pour a small amount of absinthe (about ¼ oz) into the glass and swirl to coat the inside. Discard the excess absinthe.
5

Strain into absinthe-rinsed glassStrain the stirred cocktail into the absinthe-rinsed glass. No ice.
6

Express lemon, no garnishHold lemon peel over the glass, skin-side down, and squeeze firmly so the oils spray over the surface. DO NOT drop the peel in — the Sazerac is served garnish-free. The oils only.

New Orleans and the First American Cocktail

The Sazerac has a strong claim to being America's oldest cocktail, originating around 1838 at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans. It was originally made with Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils Cognac, which Antoine Amédée Peychaud (a Creole apothecary) mixed with his proprietary bitters and sugar. A phylloxera outbreak in the 1870s decimated French Cognac supplies, and American rye whiskey replaced it.

The absinthe rinse is not optional and not interchangeable. The anise aroma from the absinthe is the first thing that hits your nose as you drink. Without it, it's a rye old fashioned with Peychaud's bitters — a good drink, but not a Sazerac. Peychaud's bitters themselves are also essential: they have a distinctive anise-cherry-bergamot character that Angostura bitters don't replicate.

Variations

🥃 Cognac Sazerac

Use VSOP Cognac instead of rye whiskey — the original 1838 recipe. Softer, fruitier, and more complex. Harder to find the character than with rye.

🌿 Herbsaint Rinse

Use Herbsaint (an anise liqueur made in New Orleans by Sazerac Company) instead of absinthe. More traditional and slightly lighter on the anise.

🍊 Mezcal Sazerac

Replace rye with mezcal. The smoke and Peychaud's cherry note make an unexpected but compelling combination.

🪙 Sazerac

New Orleans and the First American Cocktail

🥃 Cognac Sazerac

🌿 Herbsaint Rinse

🍊 Mezcal Sazerac