World's First Cocktail?

Wouldn't it make sense that New Orleans be the place to invent the first cocktail? Legend has it that a Mr. Peychaud, an apothecary living in New Orleans used his own blend of bitters (Peychaud Bitters are still available today) a splash of Brandy, sugar and water dispensed this remedy to his clients in a coquetier, or egg cup. It is thought that perhaps cocktail is an americanized version of the french word coquetier. Regardless, it's a great story and having lived in Louisiana, it makes complete sense to me.

The ingredients of this drink changed to it's current form and became named for the Sazerac Cafe, in which it was, and is now served at the Sazerac Bar now housed at the Fairmont hotel in New Orleans. You have to do some work to get the ingredients, but the final product is a smooth, complicated taste that your guests will be talking about for quite some time.

Sazerac Cocktail Recipe

1 teaspoon of simple syrup (or 1 sugar cube or 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar)

4 dashes Peychaud's bitters

2 ounces rye whiskey.

1/2 teaspoon of Herbsaint (a New Orleans brand of anise liqueur)

Strip of lemon peel

Load a 3 1/2 oz old fashioned glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, saturate the cube just with enough water and crush it. Add a few cubes of ice and mix to chill. Discard the ice from the first glass and add the Herbsaint. Coat the inside of the glass and then discard the extra. Strain the whiskey blend into the glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink so the oils hit the drink. Then rub the rim of the glass with the peel, and discard. DO not not put the peel into the drink.

ENJOY!