Plus we’ve added in all awarded medals and prizes, a handy tool to help with your next Cognac purchase. Some claim it is the oldest known American cocktail, with origins in pre-Civil War New Orleans The story of Sazerac starts with Creole immigrant Antoine Peychaud’s late-night experiment in his New Orleans pharmacy in 1838. Blended with cognacs that have aged between seven and fifty years, our cognac is complex, full of character and inevitably produced in very small quantities. Like Bernard Sazerac de Forge, whose brandies were enjoyed all over the world from the 17th to the 19th centuries, we are bringing fine cognac to the 21st century. Richman had angered many New Orleanians in 2006 with an article in the magazine GQ, in which he criticized New Orleans' food culture post-Hurricane Katrina. But if you’re looking to re-create a delicious Sazerac at home, the following is, we think, fairly faithful to the original Sazerac Cognac recipe created all those years ago. [20] It is essentially the same cocktail as the Sazerac, but called for bourbon (and not rye) instead of cognac. [8], By the early 20th century, simple cocktails like the Sazerac had become rare, which eventually rekindled their popularity.[13]. The classic Sazerac recipe has evolved over the years. Rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with the absinthe, add crushed ice, and set it aside. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When it comes to cocktail mixing, the Stinger has to be one of the simplest we’ve come across. cognac or rye whiskey, absinthe, Peychaud's Bitters, and sugar, although bourbon whiskey is sometimes substituted for the rye and Herbsaint is sometimes substituted for the absinthe. To bring it full circle and back to Cognac, the present-day spirits company went to great lengths to research its history, finding ties to an important French family, who had been producing Cognac on their Charente estate for 400 years. Enjoying your favorite Cognac as an appetizer or digestif is a familiar pleasure. [2], At some point before his death in 1889, Handy recorded the recipe for the cocktail, which made its first printed appearance in William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (1908)[10],[11] although his recipe calls for Selner Bitters, not Peychaud's. The name Sazerac comes from the brand of cognac, Sazerac de Forge et Fils, that was used to create the original cocktail. By 1869, Thomas H. Handy had bought the Sazerac Coffeehouse and soon turned his hand to buying and marketing multiple liquor brands. Add the bitters and the ice and stir. This relaunch of Sazerac de Forge et Fils recreates the original Sazerac pro-phylloxera recipe using old and rare native grape varieties grown when the brand was at the peak of its fame. As an apothecary, Peychaud had a penchant for mixology and whilst entertaining his friends one evening, he happened across a compelling concoction of brandy, absinthe and a dash of his secret bitters. He put his own spin on the bitters and Cognac blend, adding in absinthe and sugar, and so the Sazerac Cocktail was born. Combining Cognac with Crème de Menthe is definitely an acquired taste, but apparently back in the day the minty flavor helped to hide the alcohol on the breath. Place the Cognac in the glass, add the sugar cube and stir until the sugar dissolves.