One of the most famous entries in the lexicon of American cocktails is the Sazerac. Unique, mysterious, and
misunderstood, the Sazerac holds a special place in the hearts of brown liquor aficionados.
As recorded around 1850, New Orleans businessman Sewell T. Taylor sold his bar, the Merchants Exchange
Coffee House, to become an importer of spirits, and he began to import a brand of cognac named Sazerac-de-
Forge et Fils. Meanwhile, fellow businessman Aaron Bird assumed proprietorship of the Merchants Exchange
and changed its name to Sazerac Coffee House.
Legend has it that Bird began serving the "Sazerac Cocktail" made with the Sazerac cognac imported by Taylor
and with bitters made by the local apothecary, Antoine Amedie Peychaud. The Sazerac Coffee House
subsequently changed hands several times until around 1870 when Thomas Handy became its proprietor. It was
around1885 that the primary ingredient changed from cognac to rye whiskey, reportedly due to a cognac shortage
caused by a phylloxera epidemic in Europe that devastated the vineyards of France. In 1912 absinthe was banned
in the United States, and various alternatives such as Herbsaint and pastis were used until the ban was
conditionally lifted in 2007.

In 1949 the Sazerac Company obtained the copyright for the Sazerac Cocktail label from J. Marion Legendre. The
Sazerac Coffee House on Carondelet Street closed and a new Sazerac Bar opened on Baronne Street at the
Roosevelt Hotel.

In 2006 the Sazerac Company first produced its own Sazerac Rye. On October 2, 2019, the Original Sazerac House on Carondelet Street opened to the public as a museum and immersive experience that shares the history of the New Orleans cocktail culture featuring, of course:

Ingredients:

•  ¼ ounce (1½ teaspoons) absinthe (recommend St. George Absinthe Verte)
• 1 sugar cube or 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ½ ounce Maraschino liqueur (optional)
• 2 ounces Sazerac Rye
• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters, 1 dash Angostura bitters

Directions

• Muddle the sugar with the bitters in a mixing glass.
• Put a few ice cubes in the mixing glass, add the rye And Maraschino liqueur (if using) and stir well.
• Pour the absinthe into a cocktail glass, swirl it around the inside and pour it out.
• (Also known as the “in-and-out pour”. What you do with it after it’s poured out is up to you.)
• Strain the rye mixture into an iced cocktail glass.
• Garnish with lemon twist, if desired.
• Submitted by Terry Cermak, Uncertified Spirit Specialist