The best sazerac in New Orleans
It was still early on a Friday night. I had just lost all the money I was willing to part with at the tables of Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans. I had played “Let It Ride” for more than five hours, holding my own most of the time. I had hoped for a big pay-off eventually, but my $300 ran out first.
I started walking out of the casino, towards the Poydras street exit right where John Besh’s steak house is. There I saw a little bar with plenty of traffic. Upscale compared to most casino bars, this one actually charged for drinks.
I sat in one of the lonely bar stools. I had an hour or so to kill before my wife ran through the rest of her cash at the nickle slots.
“If I asked you to make me a Sazerac, would you know how?” I asked the barman.
Foolish me.
Behind the bar was Mark Quigley. I came to find out that he’s been behind some bar somewhere in New Orleans for more than thirty years.
“Oh, yeah,” Mr. Quigley replied. “I know how.” (I use the term “Mr. Quigley” to express my utmost respect.)
Now a Sazerac isn’t a complicated drink, at least not in the number of ingredients required to get it into a glass. In a Sazerac, the complications come from the exact measurement of the ingredients and precise application of the techniques used to prepare it.
“OK, make me a Sazerac,” I said in cautious anticipation.
Now I’m no Sazerac virgin.
I’ve had Sazeracs made by the best: Marvin Allen at the Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel bar, Chris Hannah at Arnaud’s French 75 and Chris McMillian at the Ritz’s Library Bar (back before its recent disappointing transformation into a place to be avoided at all costs).
Mr. Quigley set a short rocks glass on the bar and filled it with ice. In a second glass, he muddled a sugar cube with a dash of Peychaud’s bitters and then added a three-ounce pour of baby Sazerac rye whiskey, topping the entire mixture with perfectly clear ice cubes. With his bar spoon, Mr. Quigley expertly stirred the precious drink to its ideal temperature and dilution.
As that second glass sat on the bar, Mr. Quigley emptied the ice from the first glass. In true New Orleans fashion, he then poured a small amount of Herbsaint into the chilled glass and tossed the glass into the air, spinning it quite naturally to distribute a fine sheen of flavor around the inside of the glass. A few quick shakes removed the last drops of liquid left in the bottom. Into this glass, he strained the contents of the other glass.
As a finale to the ritual, right in front of me he twists a lemon peel over the drink, and then slides the perfect Sazerac towards me, the glass sitting perfectly centered on a Harrah’s cocktail napkin.
No doubt at all: Mark Quigley makes the best Sazerac in New Orleans.
Sazerac
The classic New Orleans cocktail3 ounces rye whiskey (Sazerac is best)
1/2 simple syrup (or to taste)
dash Peychaud’s bitters (accept no substitute)stir with ice, pour into a glass rinsed with Herbsaint liqueur (absinthe works great, too). Garnish with a lemon twist.
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