Sazerac

Said to be The Big Easy's first cocktail, it was originally served at the Sazerac Coffee House.

Yield: Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  cup  water
• Ice cubes
• 1/4  cup  rye whiskey or bourbon
• 1/4  teaspoon  bitters
• 1/4  teaspoon  anise liqueur
• Lemon rind twist

Preparation

Cook 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and cool.

Pack a 3 1/2-ounce cocktail glass with ice cubes, and set glass aside.

Combine whiskey, bitters, sugar syrup, and a few ice cubes in a cocktail shaker; stir to chill.

Discard ice cubes in cocktail glass. Coat inside of glass with liqueur, shaking out excess liqueur. (For stronger licorice flavor, leave excess liqueur in glass.) Rub lemon rind over rim of glass, and discard rind.

Strain whiskey mixture into prepared glass. Serve drink immediately.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Jim Beam Straight Rye Whiskey, Peychaud's Bitters, and Herbsaint anise liqueur. Rye whiskey is distilled from rye grain instead of wheat and barley, giving it a smooth, rich flavor similar to that of bourbon.