It’s not yet Mardi Gras time, but with Super Bowl XLVII headed to New Orleans this week, I’ve got the Big Easy on the brain.
Having finally visited New Orleans a few years ago (as part of the fun 2011 Food Bloggers conference natch) I have many fond (and a few less detailed) memories of Nola cocktails. My favorite NOLA memory includes my favorite NOLA cocktail – the Sazerac. A small group of us skipped out of the last session and instead drank Sazeracs in the surprisingly low dizziness-inducing Carousal bar in the same hotel where my grandparents had honeymooned 60+ years before.
I’ve scoured the historical recipes for this most classic of classic cocktails, often called the oldest in America, and included my favorite version of it below. Feel free to make up a few of these to class up your Super Bowl party and toast New Orleans.
Sazerac Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ounces rye whiskey (I prefer High West Double Rye or Bulleit Rye)
- 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
- 1 tsp of simple syrup
- Splash of absinthe
- Lemon peel (garnish)
Directions
- Chill your old-fashioned glass with ice and water.
- In a second old-fashioned glass (not a mixing glass, it’s apparently part of the tradition) combine simple syrup and bitters. Add rye whiskey.
- Remove ice and water from first glass. Wash your glass with absinthe by pouring a splash of absinthe into the glass and swirling it to coat the sides, discarding any remaining absinthe.
- Pour the rye mixture from the second glass into the first glass.
- Rub lemon peel around the rim and place peel inside glass.
What’re your favorite Super Bowl cocktails?
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