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If you are rightly concerned about chucking expensive absinthe down the drain then consider straining into a shot glass and serve on the side. The roughly...
My favorite drink. I make mine with bourbon or rye & Peychaud Bitters 3-4 dashes to make it on the spicier side. I like mine sweet so I use more simple syrup than most will. And I definitely guzzle that extra absinthe, no way would I waste it. For my customers that do not prefer the flavor of absinthe, I use a spray aspirator and spray 2-3 spritzes over the top so they get the scent with very little flavor. But I coat mine! I use fennel from my garden to garnish for added scent.
This is a beautiful sazerac, wonderfully aromatic, even with a bottle of Peychaud bitters that was likely past its best. Still need to practise the throwing technique a bit more though!
Can I ask what the benefits are of throwing the cocktail as opposed to just stirring it? I've only ever considered throwing to wake up any aromatic ingredients like fortified wine, wouldn't have thought the small amount of bitters would benefit from it.
A very smooth version. I’m in the minimal absinthe camp (can’t abide licorice), so I eschewed the shot. I believe Jerry Thomas’ term for putting fine ice in a glass to chill it was to frappe (frapp-ay) it, so I rinsed and frappayed, threw and strained. Then I smiled.
This is a lovely drink, we used Rittenhouse Rye and spritzed the glass using an Atomizer instead of rinsing the glass with Absinthe, which worked perfectly. We highly recommend giving this drink a try.
I subbed the cognac for Armenian brandy (closest thing I had on hand) and dowsed the glass in a few spritzes of St. George from my atomizer instead of doing a rinse, came out excellent!
I love this site and the community of discerning drinkers, but I gotta say why does everyone treat absinthe like it's turpentine? I throw a splash in over ice while I make my drinks and I leave it in -bc hey it's GOOD. Same with my Hemingways, throw in a splash while shaking up the other parts and mix it all in. I say don't toss the absinthe, drink it!
I would reiterate the comment that I’d probably cut the simple in half - a bit sweet. Maybe even toss a dash of absinthe in the drink too above and beyond the rinse?
Just water with absinthe to chill the glass. No water in the shaker - just ice and other ingredients. Ice will melt and dilute other ingredients as part of the throwing process.
Absinthe and water in the glass and then discarded (or poured into shot glass to be enjoyed on the side). All other ingredients in the shaker and then strained into absinthe and water washed glass.
Funny peculiar that you called this weekend an Absinth weekend since I had already planned a Sazerac for tomorrow night (sigh cocktails are planned ahead at this home bar). I get the Sazerac Rye only for this. But I must say the rinsing with the absinth does not give even 5ml of drink in a shot, so I can only conclude you're adding more Absinth in a shot secretly :D , hence cheating.... cheers xxx
I "rinse" the glass by filling it with ice and then pouring 10ml (to 15ml) of absinthe and approx 70ml chilled water. I leave this to sit while assembling the other ingredients in a shaker (to throw) and then strain absinthe and water into shot glass rather than discarding.
I also made the cocktail exactly as written here after picking up some bourbon, and have to say that it's the best iteration of the Sazerac that I've tried. Thanks Simon - I really enjoyed it on Pancake Day aka Mardi Gras today!
Here's a video of me making it: https://youtu.be/guj5EaS2fGg
I didn't have any bourbon, so I used 1.25oz of both rye and cognac, and instead of regular sugar syrup I used demerara syrup. The shot of absinthe on the side was definitely delicious (although I just rinsed the glass with absinthe, ice and no water)!
I don't mind this recipe, it's actually quite moreish, not a good thing haha.
Anonymous
17th August 2020 at 22:38
This recipe is wrong. You can use either use cognac or rye whiskey, but not both. Never use bourbon. I'm from New Orleans and to make the Sazerac to this recipe would be sacrilage.
What does 'wrong' mean ? Every cocktail has been invented by some person, it's a subject of personal taste. The world would be horribly boring with such a thinking. If someone prefers a twist of sazerac with ketchup, then hey why not ?