We’re over soup and cold weather and are off to Oaxaca, where it’s sunny with highs near 80. And we’re looking forward to doing a Mezcal tasting at In Situ. To get in some essential pre-trip conditioning, we decided to buy some Mezcal in Sonoma. We know nothing about good mezcal but do know that the label of one of the bottles on the shelf was speaking to us. It was imported by “Sazerac Company, Inc.” located in Metairie, LA, and was produced and bottled in Oaxaca! Not only did we live in Louisiana for 27 years, we have blogged about Sazerac cocktails, and we’re heading for Oaxaca. We had no choice but to buy it.
We solicited a suggestion for a mezcal cocktail from our son-in-law and Tacolicious‘ El Jefe, Joe. We tried it last night, and it was delicious. So if you want a mezcal cocktail – without going to Oaxaca – this will do the trick. …
If you want to feel very cosmopolitan (but don’t want a Cosmopolitan), try a Boulevardier – especially if you’re tired of Negronis. The cocktail – pronounced “boo-luh-var-dyay” – dates back to Paris and the 1920s. Its festive color makes the Boulevardier the perfect cocktail for the holiday season (please do note how artfully Andy has found greenery to accompany the red in the drink!) 🙂
For a slightly-less sweet drink, add a touch more bourbon or reduce the amount of Campari a bit.
Ingredients
2 1/2 oz bourbon
1 1/2 oz campari
2 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula is wonderful – and pricey – but it’s versatile; try it as an aperitif or in your Negroni)
a cherry (don’t use old-fashioned maraschinos. Yuck. Instead, use something like Tillen Farms Bada Bing Cherries)
Add all the ingredients to an ice-filled mixing glass, stir well, and strain into a chilled cocktail glasses; drop in the cherry. Or serve it over the rocks – 1 big ice cube is best – in old-fashioned glasses.
Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann
Our version of a Sazerac calls for one jumbo ice cube
A Lagniappe edition, and how apropos. We could use a strong drink about now.
I just finished the novel A Gentleman in Moscow, feeling like I’ve revisited my days as a college English major, reading the classics. But Amor Towles’ novel isn’t one – yet.
I loved the segment where the delightful main character, Count Rostov, requests some absinthe at his hotel’s bar. And, of course, that made me think of Louisiana and Sazeracs. And, if you’ve read the book, you’ll know why I’m craving a fennel and clam bouillabaisse.
You might want to sip a Sazerac and watch 1942’s Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman before reading the novel. And then, just as you’ve finished reading the next-to-last chapter – fix yourself another Sazerac, curl up (maybe by a fire, as long as it’s in a fireplace), and, sipping your Sazerac, read “Afterword,” the final chapter. It’s a marvelous ending.
Perhaps you should start your evening with Sondra Bernstein’s delicious and simple Pernod-scented Musselsrecipe – similar to the Count’s bouillabaisse. Better yet, come to Sonoma (if you aren’t already here), and enjoy the dish at Sondra’s restaurant, the girl & the fig.
“Keep Sonoma Strong.”
Sazerac’s special ingredients: absinthe and Peychaud’s bitters
A simple syrup is made by combining equal parts water and sugar, popping in the microwave until boiling, then cooling. It makes sense to make more than 2 teaspoons. If you combine 1/2 c water and 1/2 c sugar it will provide enough for numerous cocktails – and will keep in the refrigerator. If you don’t want to make the syrup, take either 1 tsp sugar or 1 sugar cube and muddle it very well with the bitters and rye.
Ingredients
1/2 tsp absinthe
1 tsp simple syrup
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters (or use angostura bitters)
1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
1 jumbo ice cube
a 2″ long lemon peel
Put the absinthe into an old-fashioned glass and swirl to coat the glass, then discard the absinthe (or use the remaining to swirl in a 2nd glass).
Add the ice cube, simple syrup and the bitters and rye whiskey to the absinthe-coated glass and stir until mixture is well chilled.
Rub the lemon peel around the rim of the glass and then twist it and drop it into the cocktail. Serve.
You can leave out the ice cube and you’ll get a more-traditional (and more potent) drink. Just be sure you stir the drink with ice cubes when you mix it and then remove the cubes before serving, since you want it served very cold. Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.
