As I create this post, a follow up to yesterdays about the New Orleans cocktail known as a Sazerac (rhymes with Prozac) I am sipping my very first Sazerac! It is the kind of drink that creeps up on you and wraps itself around your pysche like a big russian sable coat! I admit, I did substitute one dash Angostura bitters in lieu of the usual 4 dashes Peychauds bitters. I used Jim Beam rye, and a french absinthe called Grande Absinthe Originale, from Provence. It is like a kind of anise, made with the botanical known as wormwood (no relation to tequila) it is a spirit, not a liqueur, and when you purchase it, you are warned to mix it with water, OR ELSE! (It is 138 proof) Absinthe has only recently been legalized...it was popular in Belle Epoque France, and has been known to have mild hallucinogenic properties. It is very complex, and the Sazerac cocktail is exquisite as a courage inducing potion prior to say, a feast of roasted oysters...followed by chilled on the half shell...etc. I needed this cocktail tonight, as I'm celebrating becoming part of the esteemed company of designers such as Alexa Hampton, Tobi Fairley, Mariette Himes Gomez, Suzanne Kasler, Thomas O'Brien, and Todd Richesin on the Hickory Chair Blog! (google Hickory Chair)...Check out these vintage old fashioned glasses from the old Roosevelt Hotel in NOLA, now restored....Cheers! DF *****
