Name: Bananarac
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 2.5 ml Absinthe; 30 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 30 ml Cognac (brandy); 15 ml Banana liqueur; 2.5 ml Brown sugar syrup; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

¹⁄₁₂ fl oz

La Fée Parisienne absinthe

1 fl oz

Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)

1 fl oz

Cognac (brandy)

¹⁄₂ fl oz

Giffard Banane du Brésil liqueur

¹⁄₁₂ fl oz

Demerara/Muscovado/brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)

1 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of lemon knotted pigtail zest twist.

Method

RINSE glass with absinthe, discard excess and set to one side.

STIR other ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into absinthe-rinsed glass. (No ice in glass.)

Garnish

EXPRESS lemon and lime zest twists over cocktail and discard.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Bananarac contains 203 calories

Alcohol content:

1.8 standard drinks
31.95% alc./vol. (63.91° proof)
25.7 grams of pure alcohol

Comments & Discussion

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Simon Sedgley Premium Member 43w

The banana plant was first cultivated in what, today, we call Papua and New Guinea. No doubt, these days bananas are grown throughout the Carribbean and the Gulf of Mexico rim. But that's a recent artefact of imperial colonialism and trade. So we think this drink is a bit of a mess, culturally and, in the long term, historically. It's pleasant enough but we'll stick with the original. Sorry if we appear to have gone all ChatGPT on everyone here. We are not a bot.

Cassandra Adams Premium Member 43w

Although edible banana species have been in the Americas for longer than absinthe has been in Europe : )

Simon Sedgley Premium Member 43w

True! Fun fact!

Caspian Berggren Premium Member 47w

I honestly don't know why love this. I've tried it several times and every time I come away loving it. It **shouldn't work** yet somehow it does. I think it's the funky banana, rye and cask from the cognac that play with the absinthe to make something unique. Everything else helps to balance it but those really are the flavours you get – banana rye-cask licorice.

A J Wilson Premium Member 49w

Lovely! I used 1:1 honey water in place of the Demerara.

Ruth Harvey 1y

I added a bit more banana liqueur and omitted the sugar syrup. Delicious!

John Hinojos Premium Member 3y

Really liked this variation. Felt the sugar syrup was not needed as I found the cocktail to be sweet enough. I ways spray my absinthe into the glass, so I probably used a bit more as I love absinthe. The angostura bitters were correct for this over the usual Peychaud bitters as the banana flavour needed a stronger and spicier bitter. Served this a bit untraditional as I put it into a small brandy snifter to concentrate the vapors as they come off the cocktail. Strong and powerful. Perfect.

Steven Jepson Premium Member 3y

Like all things you make with what you have to hand.
Sazarac Rye, Cognac, Murmichan Scottish Absinthe and Peychards Bitters (seriously why Angostura ?).
Stirred down to freezing and garnished with Hotel Starlino Cherries.
Served with a large ice cube to keep the chill factor.
This is a superb end of night sip

Chris Lamb Premium Member 3y

Tried this last night but deviated from the recipe in 2 ways: a) I only have 90 proof Bulleit rye and b) I slipped and ended up with 20ml of Tempus Fugit banane. It was still recognisable as a sazerac, but it was missing that silverey taste that makes the sazerac so good and was also perhaps a little viscous. I guess my point is that this recipe is maybe quite sensitive to the amount/variant of banana liqueur; perhaps I'd use a banana garnish to cue the idea of 'banana' instead of forcing it?

Alexandre Perron 4y

Basically a Banana Flavered Sazerac. The idea is genius. This is a brillant drink !!!

Eric Inge 4y

Made with Sazerac Rye and PM Spirits' L'Encantada Armagnac; Tattoo Series #2. Also used Tempus Fugit's Crème de Banane. Six pumps of an Absinthe atomizer, as well. Brilliant. Really solid, boozy cocktail.