Say... say the word.
Trever and Jason in unison: Vieux carre.
Okay. Spell the word.
[the modulated rogue] The modern rogue makes vieux carre.
I know it's French, but vieux carre means nothing to me.
Walk me through everything.
Now vieux carre comes from "Old Square"
which is an old name for the French Quarter.
So this is like, the New Orleans drink, right?
Oh! So, so--French Quarter.
Like, not in France. You're talking about in...
In New Orleans! That's why we're talking about New Orleans.
I thought this was like Napoleon's Nightcap.
[laughter]
This is like the traditional New Orleans drink.
It was made by a bartender at the Hotel Monteleone,
which is now a carousel bar, back in like the 1930s I think.
It went out of favor for a long time,
and now with the craft cocktail resurgence, it's kind of back en vogue.
I don't even know what the main alcoholic ingredient in this is so,
let's make one!
This is why you contacted me, yeah.
>> Brian: This is why we have our spirit animal, Trever.
Spirit guide!
Oh, yeah.
Let him drink the vieux carre, and then he becomes the spirit animal.
[laughter]
First, what we're going to do is, we're going to chill our glass.
After you've stirred the drink, and you have it at your optimal temperature,
by chilling the glass, the alcohol will remain at optimal temperature for the next few minutes.
>> Brian: Man, it's funny 'cause you don't realize how ephemeral the experience of a drink is.
It matters whether you have it right as it's served, or wait five or ten minutes.
I mean, that's why there's different pieces of glassware,
I mean, that's why you chill, that's why you don't chill, that's why you have certain beers in certain glasses.
The whole thing, like you said, it's very ephemeral.
Yeah, yeah.
Why are we using this particular glass?
The coupe has become a great way to serve a drink,
because with this being such a boozy drink
you want to be able to sip on it, but you don't want to splash it around
and it's just the perfect vessel in it.
You may see this on the rocks every now and then,
it's basically, it's all preference
but I like it when it's up because there's so much booze in it and I don't want it to dilute.
So this is a classic stir drink, so
we are going to be using a yarai
and first we are going to start off with
an ounce of rye whiskey.
>> Jason: This is some science, here.
Next we're going to use an ounce of sweet vermouth
today we're using Antica, which is
a vermouth from Italy.
Next, we're going to be using an ounce of cognac.
We're using pierre ferrand.
>> Brian: So far, these are all alcohols, right?
>> Trever: This is straight alcohol.
So, it's a little bit closer to like a long island iced tea type thing.
It might be a little classier.
A fancier way of doing that.
Okay, all right.
I had to look it up, because I actually wasn't sure
like the whole story of cognac. Cognac is a brandy,
brandy is made from distilling wine.
So it's like, you've got wine, and you reduce it and it becomes port
and you keep on reducing it, it becomes brandy? Is that what it is?
Also, in what world does [it] go lower?
Let's say wine, cognac, brandy.
And typically brandy is distilled with fruit.
>> Brian: Got it. Got it, okay all right.
Next we're going to be using two dashes of aromatic Angostura bitters.
Which is from Trinodad and [ding] Tobago.
I thought it was Tobog--Tobahg?
Tobaygo, tomahto, tomato?
He got called out by saying it wrong from people actually from Tobago.
Next we're going to use two dashes of Peychaud's
which is a New Orleans bitters.
So far we've got: rye whiskey, sweet vermouth,
cognac, and two different types of bitters.
Correct.
That's a lot of booze.
And then we have one more ingredient after that.
...and there's more.
We're going to get some good ice to stir.
[ice rattling]
Now when you say good ice, I assume--oh, that is good ice.
Those are giant bricks. That is awesome.
With these cubes there's going to be less dilution
because if we just put a bunch of different ice in there, it's going to melt quicker.
So with these cubes you're going to have optimal surface area.
>> Brian: Perfect.
>> Trever: And, they're easier to stir as well. They don't, you know, get all bunched up.
>> Brian: I guess it's like, think about the difference
between putting snow in there, where it all immediately becomes water
versus these bricks.
You know, in tiki drinks are going to use shaved ice
or crushed ice because you want the dilution because rum is typically over-proof that you use.
>> Trever: So we're going to dump our water out here.
Now we have our chilled glass.
So we're going to take our strainer, and we're going to put it on top of our yarai.
And then pour this in.
Now the drink isn't quite done yet.
Going to wash off our yarai,
set this aside,
and we're going to put a bar spoon of Benedictine
>> Brian and Jason: What is Benedictine?
That's like, that's what you put on cuts?
That's Bactine®
Haha, sorry.
It's close.
It's just a--it's a French liquor that has about twenty-eight different herbs and spices in it.
>> Brian: Oh wow, right on.
So now we have our Benedictine in there
and next all you need on the garnish is a nice lemon swath.
>> Brian: So a zest is like a thin strip and a curly thing? >> Trever: Yes.
But a swath is a wide peel?
>> Trever: You're going to have a thicker one, and you're going to have just a little bit of the limonene in here.
>> Brian: Okay.
>> Trever: And that's where your essential oils are
and when you express fruit over the drink, you'll get those oils.
Rim it here, and then just drop it in.
>> Brian: Man, it's so subtle. Like, there's so many aspects.
>> Trever: Who wants to take the first drink?
>> Jason: That's you, go for it. >> Brian: Diiiibbs!
That is extraordinary.
>> Jason: Yeah, it's kind of spicy, right?
Well, and I didn't think that whiskey could
have so many variances of flavor.
The Bénédictine on top really brings out the herbs and spices of the drink,
the vermouth kind of cleanses your palette, but leaves a little sweet aftertaste,
and then the whiskey is really what hits your bloodstream.
I guess that's the part that really blows me away,
I didn't expect that the whiskey has never been the most upfront part of any of these drinks we've made.
>> Jason: Okay, so we've got rye whiskey,
sweet vermouth,
cognac,
two different types of bitters,
Bénédictine,
and the lemon swath.
>> Trever: Yes, sir.
Uh, well, guess who has a new favorite drink?
You like that?
If I can learn to pronounce it, it'll be great!
Voo-kay-ray!
Yee-haw!
How about we all just go to New Orleans right now?
>> Jason: Okay, let's do it. Yes. >> Brian: Roadtrip.
Okay!