Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Sazerac
The official cocktail of New Orleans: rye whiskey stirred with sugar and Peychaud's bitters, served in an absinthe-rinsed glass with lemon peel.
American · medium · serves 1
prep 5 min · cook 0 min
~2 cal · 0g protein · 1g carbs · 0g fat · 0g fiber · 0g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The Sazerac is one of America's oldest cocktails and the official cocktail of New Orleans, a spirit-forward classic born in the city's French Quarter in the mid-1800s. It began as a brandy drink built around Sazerac de Forge cognac and the Creole apothecary Antoine Peychaud's own bitters; when a vine blight made cognac scarce, New Orleans bartenders switched to American rye whiskey, and the rye Sazerac became the standard.
The build is precise. A sugar cube is muddled with Peychaud's bitters, rye whiskey is stirred in with ice, and the drink is strained into a chilled glass that has been rinsed with absinthe (or the local Herbsaint) and the excess tipped out. A twist of lemon peel is expressed over the top. Crucially, no ice goes in the serving glass, so the drink stays cold and full strength.
Aromatic, herbal, and boldly spiced, the Sazerac is New Orleans in a glass, and the Peychaud's bitters that give it its rosy hue are the one ingredient you cannot leave out.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 1
2 oz rye whiskey
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1/4 oz absinthe, or Herbsaint, to rinse the glass
1 strip lemon peel
Instructions
1
Chill a rocks glass with ice while you build the drink, or keep it in the freezer.
2
In a mixing glass, muddle the sugar cube with the Peychaud's bitters, then add the rye whiskey and ice and stir until well chilled.
✎ Chef’s note
Peychaud's bitters are non-negotiable; they give the Sazerac its rosy colour and floral anise note. Angostura makes a different drink.
3
Empty the ice from the chilled glass, pour in the absinthe, swirl to coat the inside, and discard the excess.
4
Strain the whiskey mixture into the absinthe-rinsed glass, with no ice.
5
Express the lemon peel over the surface to release its oils, then rest it on the rim and serve.
New Orleans (Louisiana) tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Louisiana. Gumbo's thickener is the argument. Okra points to West Africa and gives the dish its likely name, from a Bantu word for okra; file, powdered sassafras, comes from the Choctaw; and the dark roux is a French technique taken further here than in France. Which one a cook reaches for says where their kitchen sits, and the question is not settled.
🗺️
United States. Between 1910 and 1970 some six million Black Americans left the South, and the cooking went north with them. The rib tips and hot links smoked in barrel pits on the South Side of Chicago, and the home cooking that acquired the name soul food around 1964, are both products of that migration rather than of the cities they arrived in.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sazerac?
The official cocktail of New Orleans: rye whiskey stirred with sugar and Peychaud's bitters, served in an absinthe-rinsed glass with lemon peel.
Where does Sazerac come from?
Sazerac is a American dish from Louisiana, United States.
Can Sazerac be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Sazerac recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Sazerac safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Sazerac take to make?
About 5 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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