- This is How to Drink, the show about making cocktails
and how to drink them.
I'm Greg, and I have never been a professional bartender.
I've never even had a job in a bar.
I don't worry too much about precision and technique
because at the end of the day, if the drink you like
is in the glass, you did it right.
Let's get going.
Let's make a Sazerac.
I am stepping into dangerous territory because
I am going to make a Sazerac
and I'm gonna break some cardinal rules
of the Sazerac, and I hope
that the pitchforks and the torches don't come out.
I think that I'm gonna do it justice but
we're gonna tweak it just a little bit.
Traditionally, a Sazerac should be made with
a sugar cube.
I'm going to use gomme syrup.
I think that the idea of a sugar cube is
a throwback to when drinks were made without ice
before we had ice harvests and freezers
and things like that.
The sugar cube won't melt properly.
Additionally, I'm going to not use
(sighs) Peychaud's Bitters.
I know.
I'm gonna use bitters from The Bitter Truth
I'm gonna use Creole bitters.
It is kind of
I hope I'm not putting words in their mouth but
it's sort of their version of the Peychaud's recipe.
And it's a little bit spicier to my mouth
but, by all means, use the bitters that you like.
We will be using Rittenhouse rye.
We're going to use bonded rye.
So without further adieu, let's make this drink.
You're gonna need, oh the other thing I don't do.
So you should traditionally traditionally
rinse Absinthe in your glass.
A rinse means you pour it in,you slosh it around,
you pour it out.
Why am I pouring out perfectly good Absinthe
when a dash is as good as a rinse?
And so I have dash a bottle with Absinthe in it
that's the way I like to do it.
So for a Sazerac I'm gonna put in a barspoon of gomme syrup.
You can put in as much as a quarter ounce, I suppose
but I don't like things to be quite that sweet.
So that's the way I'm going.
I'm gonna put in
I'm gonna put in three dashes.
(jazz music)
I'm gonna put in two ounces of rye.
(jazz music)
I'm gonna put in one dash of Absinthe.
(jazz music)
And that's this drink.
Now I'm gonna crack some ice in it and give it a stir.
The word is that this drink became popular
at the Sazerac House?
Around 1900.
But,
and I'm kind of going by what one drink says here
so maybe I'm wrong
but I don't think I am
it was pretty widely available as the approved
whiskey cocktail just about everywhere else.
Obviously there's a slight difference between these two.
One includes maraschino, one does not.
But they are very similar.
And there is evidence to suggest that the two
were at one time one drink.
I'm gonna serve this drink
up in a rocks glass.
I don't normally like that much room
between the top and bottom of my glass
but, for a Sazerac that's the way I do it.
And the lemon peel for a garnish.
You want to make sure to suppress plenty of oils.
(jazz music)
And that's a Sazerac
the way that I make it.
That's a Sazerac the way I make it at home.
Let's see if I did okey dokey.
(jazz music)
(exhales)
(jazz music)
I mean, I like it.
I like it a lot.
I
woo.
It has such a really satisfying finish.
The bitters and the Absinthe play on your
back of your throat for a long time
before migrating up into your oral factory
into your nose.
I love this drink.
Just the right amount of like spice and heat
and a little bit of like (pop) fire from the whiskey
but not overpowering at all.
This is a fantastic drink.
New Orleans
you have brought onto the world
one of the finest drinks known to man.
I hope that my version lives up
to its namesake.
If it doesn't, I am eternally sorry.
But,
I think it's pretty good.
I hope you like the show.
And if you do like the show, I hope you'll subscribe,
comment, tell your friends.
I love to hear what you guys have to say about the drinks
when I get them right, when I get them wrong.
I will see you guys next week
with another drink here on How to Drink.
Thank you very much for watching.
I'm Greg.
And I'm gonna finish this.
(jazz music)
Woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!