Recipe:
50ml. Bourbon or Cognac
15-20ml. Gomme
2 dashes Angostura bitters
10ml Absenthe
Garnish: orange peel

Shake all the ingredients, except the absinthe. Splash the Absenthe into he rocks glass, fill with ice and swirl it, then pour the Absenthe out.

Strain the contents of the shaker into the rocks glass and garnish.

Antoine Amadie Peychaud, a Creole apothecary, is given the credit for first inventing the Sazerac cocktail in the 1830s. In 1795, he immigrated to New Orleans from the West Indies and opened a drugstore called Pharmacie Peychaud. Like many “chemists” of his day, he sold his own patent medicine; Peychaud’s Bitters, a proprietary mix of aromatic bitters said to relive his clients’ ailments. His medical toddy soon became very popular and friends gathered regularly to sample his late-night drinks.

The drink was named after an imported Sazerac cognac, Sazerac de Forge et Fils, which was originally used in making the cocktail.

The popularity of the Sazerac cocktail led to the opening of a large bar in 1852 called the Sazerac Coffee House (coffee house was the term used for drinking establishment in the mid-1800s).

The bar had a 125-foot-long bar manned by a dozen bartenders all mixing Sazerac cocktails for patrons. In 1870, Thomas H. Handy purchased the Sazerac Coffee House and also bought out the rights to Peychaud’s Bitters.

In the early days, the Sazerac cocktail was made with cognac or brandy, but as American tastes changed, rye whiskey was substituted. This unique cocktail derived it anise scent from absinthe.

Beginning in 1912, absinthe was banned in the United States because of its habit-forming quality. Pernod, Herbsaint, or Ricard was substituted in place of absinthe.