As Houstone observed in my previous post, (#80) Sazerac is indeed a famous cocktail as well as a brand of rye. In fact it is so important that the Louisiana state legislature named it the official cocktail of New Orleans. It also happens to be one of my favorites.

Rather than explain how to make it, listen to this NPR story. There is something really awesome about listening to a drink being mixed. Their recipe differs from what I'm used to; I don't shake it, which waters down the drink, nor do I add Angostura bitters, just Peychaud's.

Here's what I prefer: rinse a chilled glass with Absinthe, add syrup and bitters, add two or three large ice cubes (I use these ice-cube trays), add rye, stir and twist lemon peel over the glass and wipe the rim. I drop my peel in, but apparently that can be considered a crime against humanity. I'll leave it up to you to decide which way you take it. Here's more info to help.

The Sazerac has a lot of tradition/baggage. I'm of two minds: make it how I like it or adhere strictly to tradition. I would say that it's a very personal choice but that's a slippery slope that ends in Chocotinis and Puckerhattans. So it pays to be mindful of how much you are deviating. In this case, a drop or two of bitters and leaving the peel in doesn't destroy the soul of the drink. All the players are there and in the right proportions.

Besides I know enough about history to know there are often many different ways to remember a given thing. And the same goes double for cocktail history. What we know as a classic drink might be a misprint or one person's riff. Bartenders alter recipes all the time.

They have Sazeracs on the menu at Danton's. Aside from the sad implementation of the rather important lemon, it was pretty good. Or maybe it was just exceedingly large and that is tainting my memory. But it was nice to be able to order a classic drink without the Blank Stare.

Now let's look at another classic New Orleans cocktail: the Ramos Gin Fizz. I've tried to mix a Ramos Gin Fizz at home but I ran into a problem: I have egg fear. I've never made, nor imbibed, a cocktail with egg in it (there might have been a Pisco Sour with real egg, but I don't think Amazon Grill goes that far). I'm afraid that it's going to taste like sipping an egg straight from the shell. I've read that it doesn't, but that changes nothing. My great shame is that I used bar foamer in the Ramos Gin Fizz that I made. The end result was a sloppy, but tasty, mess. It was nowhere near as thick as it was supposed to be. The mouth-feel was so off that it didn't get crossed it off the list as a cocktail I've downed.

Since I'm not about have to look that egg in the eye before I drink it, I think it is time to see a bartender. There might be dozens of places in Houston that one might score an authentic RGF, but I'll only trust Anvil to mix it up. Except the Anvil curse is in full effect so I won't be able to make it there before this gets posted. Damn you Anvil Guardian! For anthropomorphic sake I'll assume it is a dwarf who doesn't want me near his magic booze producing anvil.

Next: going to give gin and rye a breather and try #17 Chrysanthemum, where all the second fiddles are starting their own band.