Sazerac

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1850–1870. Druggist Antoine Amédée Peychaud created his aromatic bitters (Peychaud's) and served them with Cognac at his pharmacy at 437 Royal Street. The drink evolved at the Sazerac Coffee House (later Sazerac Bar), operated by Thomas Handy, who began using rye whiskey after phylloxera destroyed French Cognac production in the 1870s. New Orleans declared the Sazerac its official cocktail in 2008.

The Sazerac is the oldest known American cocktail and the official cocktail of New Orleans — rye whiskey (or Cognac), Peychaud's bitters, and a sugar cube, served in a Herbsaint (or absinthe) -rinsed glass with a lemon twist. Created in New Orleans in the 1850s by druggist Antoine Amédée Peychaud, who served his proprietary bitters with Cognac in a double-ended egg cup (coquetier, possibly the origin of 'cocktail'), the drink evolved to rye whiskey after phylloxera destroyed French vineyards in the 1870s. The absinthe rinse is the drink's defining technical element: a thin coating of anise spirit on the glass's interior transforms every sip by adding a layer of anise aromatics that float beneath the rye's spice and the bitters' cherry-anise complexity.

FOOD PAIRING: The Sazerac's rye spice, anise rinse, and cherry bitters pairs with rich New Orleans and Southern cuisine. Provenance 1000 pairings: oysters Rockefeller (the anise in the dish echoes the absinthe rinse), shrimp étouffée (the rye's spice cuts through the roux's richness), andouille sausage (the pepper spice amplifies the rye's heat), beignets with powdered sugar (the sweet anise bridge), and dark chocolate bread pudding with bourbon sauce.