Tag: whiskey

What am I Drinking Tonight? Raise a Glass to Sazerac!
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What am I Drinking Tonight? Raise a Glass to Sazerac!

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Welp, today is Mardi Gras and I am raising a glass to toast Sazerac and NOLA because they are not letting a pandemic shut down a centuries-old tradition. NOLA! Things are looking a little different this year for sure, but nothing stops Mardi Gras! It’s gonna be a cold day in NOLA today.  There will be no parade floats and there will be no overflowing crowds lining the streets all over the city dancing for beads. The bars are ordered to be closed. Krewes will still have their celebrations but the parties will tend to be more private.

That sounds depressing, but people are very creative and I have little doubt that people will still find a way to celebrate Mardi Gras in grand style.

The Darling of Mardi Gras

Though there will be more private parties this year and in observance of Mardi Gras, the drinks will still flow as they’ve done since forever in celebration of the end of Carnival although much of it will be carry-out. 

Carry-out, dine in, drink in, or at home, New Orleans has a proud reputation for interesting cocktails. Many of these iconic drinks; Sazerac, King Cake shots, Ramos Gin Fizz and Frozen Milk Punch, one of my favorites, to name a few, have been around for many decades but, during the season of Carnival and Mardi Gras is when they take center stage. But, of all these cocktails, the Sazerac wears the crown as the official drink of New Orleans and the darling of Mardi Gras.

Sazerac was made popular around 1830 and then went through a period of evolutionary rejiggering. A cognac shortage in France made it necessary to substitute with rye and then the banning of  absinthe, as a poison, was replaced with Herbsaint. Sazerac finally found its groove and in 2008, the Sazerac took its place as the official cocktail.

 I use the recipe for Sazerac from Liquor.com.  There’s also a little interesting history about the drink and alternative Sazerac recipes at Liquor.com.

Sazerac

Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 1

Equipment

  • Mixing glass, muddler, bar spoon, hawthorne strainer, 2 rocks glasses

Ingredients
  

  • Absinthe to rinse or spritz inside of glass
  • 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 1-1/4 oz. Rye
  • 1-1/4 oz, Cognac
  • 1/2 tsp Cold water
  • 1 Sugar cube
  • Lemon peel for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Rinse and discard excess or spritz glass using a fine mist sprayer with Absinthe.
  • In a separate mixing glass, muddle sugar cube, water, Peychaud's and Angostura bitters.
  • Add rye, cognac and ice into mixing glass and stir until chilled.
  • Strain into Absinthe-prepared glass.
  • Squeeze lemon peel into glass to extract the oils and garnish with the peel.
  • Sip slow!
Keyword absinthe, rye, sazerac
What I’m Drinking Tonight – New York Sour
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What I’m Drinking Tonight – New York Sour

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I thought I was setting myself up for disappointment with this drink but then, I thought it’s got bourbon in it how bad can it be?  So, I adventured on and pulled out the cocktail shaker.

A little bit about the New York Sour (which I highly recommend, by the way).  According to Whiskey Tango Globetrot, www.whiskeytangoglobtrot.com. The New York Sour dates back to at least the mid-1800s.

The original recipe called for:

1 table-spoon (1 tsp) of sugar
¼ of  lemon (juice of)
½ a wine glass (1 tbsp) of water
1 wine glass (2 oz.) of spirits

The standard spirit then was brandy, rum, gin or whiskey, though whiskey was added on much later.  Somehow the sour cocktail became America’s cocktail. The sour cocktail was actually originated in Chicago and was called a Continental Sour or Southern Whiskey Sour with a claret snap.The snap was red wine that floated on top of the drink.

No one really knows how a drink originating and popularized in Chicago inherited the name New York Sour or how it stuck.  It’s got a cool, sophisticated look and it is refreshing although I got a little carried away with the rocks. And you can try it, but the egg white was a hard pass for me. The cool part was floating the wine on top.  I thought I was going to ruin it and create a disaster. Turns out I’m a pro!

There are a number of variations of course, but this is the one I thought I would like best and it comes from liquor.com

Here is the modern day recipe:

2 oz. Rye whiskey or bourbon
1 oz. lemon juice
¾ oz. simple syrup
1 egg white (optional)
½ oz. dry red wine

Add all ingredients except the wine into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until the shaker is cold.  Strain into a rocks glass over a few cubes of fresh ice.

Slowly pour the wine over the back of a bar spoon so that it floats on top of the drink.

Sip slow and enjoy!


What I’m Drinking Tonight
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What I’m Drinking Tonight

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Cute mixed drinks have their place, but tonight it’s rye on the rocks, baby!
If you’re a whiskey drinker, I recommend giving rye whiskey a shot. I’m far from an expert in rye whiskeys, I’m only an expert in what I like and the rye I like is Corsair Ryemagedden. According to them, it’s booze for badasses. It’s 92-proof, very smooth and on my palate, kind of nutty and buttery. This is not a paid endorsement or a product review.

It’s said that rye is bourbon’s spicy cousin and for sure there is a spiciness to rye. Oh, I also love bourbon, Tennessee straight whiskey, single malt scotch…

Booze for Badasses

Tonight, we’re not getting all connoisseur-ish talking about mouth feel, top or bottom notes. I’m just working on getting to the bottom of my glass.

A bit about the distillery, Corsair is a new American distillery located in Nashville, Tennessee. They have a respectable line of small batch, artesian whiskeys that includes a white rye, pumpkin spice moonshine, gin and a cat named Pizza. If you happen to be down around the Tennessee area, look them up, take a tour of the distillery, and pick up a bottle or two if you can. Corsair’s distribution is pretty wide but, it’s damn near impossible to find in Detroit.