10. The Oldest Gentleman on the Block: The Sazerac
WHAT IT IS: The Sazerac is the only serious contender for oldest cocktail besides The Old Fashioned, and bartenders tend to align along geographic lines. Ask any New Orleans bartender and he will proudly tell you this is the oldest, while New Yorkers tend to vouch for the Old Fashioned. Regardless of the primacy as king of cocktails, the Sazerac is a delicious, potent and simple cocktail that allows for a lot of showy presentation. This is a serious, ass-kicking cocktail.
HOW TO MAKE IT: Chill two rocks glasses. In one, splash Absinthe to coat the glass. If you are slick, you can flip the glass and allow the centripetal force to keep the absinthe inside, like drunk teenagers in a Gravitron, or the Round up.
In the other glass, muddle 2 sugar cubes and about five dashes of Peychaud’s bitters. No other bitter will do the job of Peychaud’s. You might make a palatable drink, but it will not be a Sazerac. Peychaud’s is actually a potent medicine made by a Haitian apothecary in the 1830s, and the unique flavor profile of the bitters, as well as its red color, combine with the absinthe to define the drink. Trust me on this.
Then fill the glass with the bitters with ice, and Rye Whiskey. Sazerac brand makes a nice one, but any good Rye whiskey will do. Stir this glass, and then strain the drink into the absinthe-coated glass.
Cut a good strip of lemon peel and leave it on the rim of the glass. This is in deference to a tradition that has the bartenders of New Orleans disagreeing on whether or not the lemon is crucial, so they compromise by letting the customer decide. As always, we recommend that you pick your side.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The Sazarac is the perfect cocktail, in that it combines simplicity, flavor and a little moment of drama. It is pleasant to watch, and a moment of ritual in a world that seems increasingly devoid of them. The little flip, the two glasses, all of it going on in a darkened bar, the same way, time after time, year after year, The Sazarac is a little poem, a small slice of beauty in an otherwise ugly world.
You should know how to make one for the same reason you should know any of these classic cocktails: to create this tiny moment, to enact this tiny ritual, to keep the darkness at bay. Also, to get drunk.
[Photo Via: ArchitectureandInteriorDesign]
