Friday Cocktail: Two New Orleans Classics

In preparation for my wedding anniversary trip to New Orleans this weekend, I thought it was appropriate to hit a couple of classic Crescent City cocktails.  Outside of New York, New Orleans may be one of the best cocktail destinations in the country. It is host to the awesome Tales of the Cocktail festival hosted every summer and is also responsible for classics such as the Sazerac and Vieux Carré.

Sazerac

Adapted form Wiliam Boothby, World Drinks and How to Mix Them, 1908

The Sazerac is the cocktail most synonymous with New Orleans. In fact, the Louisiana legislature made it the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008.  As with many cocktails, it was originally made with cognac at the Sazerac Coffee House. When Thomas H. Handy became the owner of the establishment in the late 1800s, he replaced the cognac with rye.  It was this recipe that was published in Boothby's classic, World Drinks and How to Mix Them in 1908. It is an Old Fashioned variant that is served without ice and takes on a lot of anise flavor from both the New Orleans staple Peychaud's bitters and the absinthe or Herbsaint rinse. There are very few cocktails that are its equal.

- 2 oz. Rittenhouse or Sazerac Rye 

- 3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

- 1 Demerara Sugar Cube or .25 oz. Demerara Simple Syrup

- St. George Absinthe Verte*

Muddle the sugar and bitters with a few drops of water (or add the simple syrup). Add whiskey and ice, and strain and stir into an ice cold absinthe-rinsed rocks glass. Twist lemon peel over surface and discard.

*For an interesting variation, rinse the glass with a peaty scotch like Laphroaig instead of the absinthe.

Vieux Carré

Adapted from Stanley Clisby Arthur, Famous New Orleans Drinks, 1937

The Vieux Carré was invented at the Hotel Monteleone by Walter Bergeron, and the Monteleone's rotating Carousel Bar is still my favorite place to order one. The story is that the ingredients in the Vieux Carré were meant pay tribute to the different ethnic groups of the city. The cognac and Benedictine were an homage to the city's French influence, the vermouth a nod to the Italian heritage, the rye referenced the American influence, and the bitters represent the Caribbean. It picks up plenty of sweetness from the Benedictine without becoming cloying.

- 1 oz. Rittenhouse or Sazerac Rye

- 1 oz. Cognac (I use Leopold or Pierre Ferrand Ambre)

- 1 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

- .25 oz. Bénédictine

- 1 dash Angostura Bitters

- 1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain over large ice cube into a chilled rocks glass. Twist and discard lemon.

Goodbye Lillet, Hello Kina L'Avion D'Or

Kina L'Avion D'Or is a relatively new version of an old style of apértif known as a a quinquina (or kina, for short) released by Tempus Fugit Spirits, a company known for sourcing and creating historic products. The L'Avion D'Or -- or "Golden Airplane," in tribute to Louis Blériot's 1909 flight across the English Channel -- is absolutely fantastic on its own or in pretty much any cocktail that calls for Lillet, such as the Vesper or the Corpse Reviver No. 2 (see recipes below). You see, Kina Lillet, as it was known until 1986, contained far more quinine than the sweeter, less bitter Lillet Blanc that exists today. Kina L'Avion D'Or is now thought by many to have replaced Cocchi Americano as the closest thing we have to Kina Lillet. I can't speak to that, as I haven't tasted the old Kina Lillet, but I do find that that L'Avion D'Or makes a much more interesting cocktail than the current Lillet Blanc. (Shoutout to the nice folks at H&F Bottle Shop for turning me onto this stuff.)

The history of quinquina is one of pragmatism. As with many alcoholic products, kinas were developed for medicinal reasons. In the first half of the 19th century, malaria was a major problem for French soldiers and colonists in North Africa. The primary treatment was quinine, which was extracted from the bark of the South American cinchona tree. Apparently, quinine was so bitter that nobody could get it down, so the French started creating fortified wines containing quinine to make it more palatable. (The British started drinking gin and tonic, which also contains quinine, in colonial India for the same reasons.) So, as with so many other things, quinquina started out as medicine and proliferated to the larger drinking culture.

In France, these apéritif wines are drunk by themselves or over ice with soda water and a slice of citrus, which makes perfect sense as a pre-dinner apéritif. Made with Cortese grape white wine infused with cinchona, orange peel, wormwood, and other spices, the Kina L'Avion D'Or is full of flavor and nuance but without the alcohol punch of a strong cocktail that might make you forget to make dinner. 

The L'Avion D'Or also takes cocktails -- especially gin cocktails -- to another level. Pretty much any recipe that calls for Lillet can be improved with this stuff. It can also act as a bolder and more interesting stand-in for dry vermouth. I'm also itching to try this in a white (er, yellow?) negroni. Store this product as you would vermouth. With an alcohol content of only 18%, it should be kept in the fridge and drunk within 4-6 weeks.

Here are two adaptations of classic cocktails that showcase the L'Avion D'Or.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

Adapted from the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930)

"Four of these taken in swift succession will 

unrevive the corpse again" - Harry Craddock

- 1 oz. Gin

- 1 oz. Cointreau (I used Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao)

- 1 oz. Kina L'Avion D'Or (in place of the Lillet Blanc)

- 1 oz. Lemon Juice

- 1-3 Dashes of Absinthe (I used St. George)

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake and double strain into a coupe. Garnish with Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

Vesper

Invented by James Bond in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale (1953)

Adapted by H&F Bottle Shop

"I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name." - James Bond in Casino Royale, Ch. 7 ("Rouge et Noir")

- 1.5 oz. Beefeater Gin (I used Plymouth)

- 1 oz. Sobieski Vodka (I used Cathead)

- .5 oz. Kina L'Avion D'Or (in place of the Kina Lillet)

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake and strain into chilled martini glass.  Garnish with lemon twist.

*Note - If you want to stay true to the Bond version, use "three measures of Gordon's [gin], one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel."