Hard Drinkers, Lets Drink Hard (Spirits, Liquors and Cocktails)
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You Yanks can't buy Havana Club because of your beef with Castro right? Sucks to fall out with Fidel when his rum is soooooo good.
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Yessir, guilty as charged. Sazerac is my favorite cocktail in the whole world. Well, to be fair, that I've tried.
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Not at all. I use St. George absinthe, Rittenhouse (or Thomas Handy Sazerac if I can find it) and it is a special occasion), simple, Peychaud's, lemon. Sometimes I may toss in a little Angostura. I use chilled old fashioned glasses (two of them). Fill one with ice and set the other aside.
I put the simple (about a sugar cubes worth–careful not to overdo the sugar, sweet Sazzys are disgusting), a liberal amount of Peychaud's (a Sazzy should be notably red IMO, so 3-5 dashes), and the rye (a jigger) in the iced glass and stir it briskly with a bar spoon for a long time, maybe a minute but probably less than that. If I'm using Ango, I'll do 3 dashes of Peychaud's and 2 Ango. I rinse the other glass with absinthe and then drink that or louche it and serve it as a sidecar. I always make sure the glass is completely coated by rotating it. An atomizer would be ideal here. Then I strain the mixture from the iced glass into this glass, carve a piece of lemon rind off the lemon, express the lemon liberally over the glass (oils from the rind should be apparent to the eye and nose), and then discard the rind (some garnish, some throw it in. I strongly disagree with these practices, though a garnish is harmless).
A bouquet of absinthe, lemon, and rye, and hopefully a slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Damn. I'm thirsty now and I have rye.
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Mine is very similar. I muddled a sugar cube with a splash of water, and 5 dashes of peychaud's. I don't have absinthe so I subbed sambuca. I'll pick up some Pernod or absinthe soon though. Serving glass chilling with ice. Mixing glass also with lots of ice. Pout out serving glass ice, coat with sambuca, express lemon, strain mixed drink into glass and boom! The rye I'm using is 100% rye which I find very revealing about what rye brings to a mash bill. I also have a bottle of Hudson Baby Bourbon that is 100% corn and is also very revealing of the grain.
Thanks for sharing your process. Such a great drink.
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Yeah when I use cubes I muddle the cube with the bitters.
Agreed on rye. Bourbon is way different, the spiciness of the rye is important, though Ferrand 1840 can be subbed for what I call an "antique" Sazerac. Since it is designed to be a reproduction of 19th century cognac it is perfect if you're trying to reproduce Mr. Peychaud's original recipe instead of Thomas Handy's rye version. A lot of New Orleanean places insist on Sazerac Rye (fine by me) and Herbsaint (less fine). Herbsaint was an artifact of a ridiculous absinthe ban, and to my palate absinthe is far, far better than Herbsaint (which is an anagram for "absinthe" but not as good IMO).
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Two parts reposado tequila, one part triple sec, habanero shrub, simple (not needed in the future), hop bitters, ancient Chinese secret Sichuan peppercorn bitters, ginger crystals. I think I'll call this one Chino Latino. It's nice.
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Thanks it was. This one is better!
Rittenhouse rye, simple, ancient Chinese secret, habanero shrub. I'm gonna call it East Meets East since the rye is an east coast style rye and the ancient Chinese secret is Eastern.
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Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal. The Islay (Mezcal) to your Speyside (tequila). So elemental, raw, smoky and delicious.
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Yes! Chichicapa is my favorite of the Del Maguey mezcales. The bottle we're working on right now at the house is Pierde Almas Dobadaan. I like this one, but my fave Pierde Almas is definitely the Tobaziche. If you love mezcal, that's a label worth checking out, and I'm pretty sure it's increasingly available in the US.
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I'll keep an eye out, thanks for the tip!
