On this episode we journey to New Orleans and discover the origins of the Sazerac.

Sazerac

SPEAKERS

Michael Kashey, Connor Brekke

Connor Brekke 00:08

Hello, everyone and welcome back to The Ombibulous, a show where we discuss a variety of topics regarding alcohol. From specific beer styles, distillation, the brewing process, wine, spirits, and even a history of certain liquor laws, there's a fascinating world to explore. Today we take a trip to the Big Easy, where we explore the origins of the Sazerac. Joining me today is Michael Kashey of Thomas and Moriarty's here in downtown Mandan. I'm your host, Connor Brekke. Let's all raise a glass to.. The Ombibulous.

Connor Brekke 00:48

Alright, everybody, welcome back to another episode. And Mr. Kashey, thank you for joining us again.

Michael Kashey 00:55

Anytime.

Connor Brekke 00:57

And we got another mixed drink, another cocktail, another adventure into the spirit world today. We will be talking about the Sazerac. It's.. a pretty important drink I would say.

Michael Kashey 01:12

I think that the people of New Orleans would probably agree with you.

Connor Brekke 01:15

So to get started, you mind giving us kind of a brief rundown of what the Sazerac is and why it's such a big deal?

Michael Kashey 01:25

Yeah. So with the Sazerac, we're gonna have to, one go down to New Orleans. And then we're going to have to do a little cocktail history. Yeah. So the legend has it that the Sazerac is the first cocktail, created by a guy named Antoine Peychaud out of his pharmacy, and he used to serve it in this... it was a cognac cocktail made from Sazerac cognac, and he served it in this egg cup called a Coquetier. And of course, Americans being American, can't pronounce French words because, you know, while we won the war, and that word became cocktail. And that's basically the legend that we've kind of, I wouldn't say grown up knowing, but drinkers, like kind of amateur cocktail geeks had heard. Unfortunately, every single word of that was total rubbish. Now, the word cocktail actually first appeared in print in 1806. It was described as a sugar spirit bitters and water. We don't know who invented it. But it was it was basically just a format. Any, any drink with sugar, spirit, bitters, and water is considered a cocktail. So you could have... if tequila would have been a thing, you could have had a tequila cocktail, you could add a vodka cocktail. The other problem with that story is Peychaud was actually born in 1803. So if he did invent the cocktail, he was a prodigy. But yeah, so the cocktail as we know it, originated a little bit earlier, a little more obscure, not sure who created it. Actually the Brits were drinking a gin, Old Tom gin, which is sweetened with sugar. They would have this thing called Stoughton's bitters. So there's your bitters, and then they would dilute it with water. So if you trace it long enough, we can go back to the 17th century as being the creation of the cocktail. So the Sazerac wasn't the first cocktail, wasn't the first American cocktail either as juleps were very popular as at this time.

Connor Brekke 03:39

Alrighty. So what's the.. what's the name Sazerac? What's the significance of that? Is there any, anything that we should know?

Michael Kashey 03:48

Yeah. So like we were saying earlier, by earlier, I mean, like five seconds ago. It's supposedly started with a cognac called Sazerac, which is actually still produced today. But kind of looking through records, Sazerac was actually a really popular name before we ever saw a cocktail... Sazerac cocktail. There was actually a bar here, or I should say, a saloon here in Bismarck, in 1872 called the Sazerac saloon. I think is kind of over where Toasted Frog, is probably on the second floor of the original, the first building that would have been there... but it burned down in the fire. By all, like any evidence that we have, the Sazerac originated in the late 1800s, at a bar called the Sazerac House, which would have been on the edge of the French Quarter, and it would have been their house cocktail. So the reason why we they would call it the Sazerac, is because it was made at the Sazerac House. It was their their house drink.

Connor Brekke 04:53

Is Sazerac a French origin word, or is it...?

Michael Kashey 04:57

Yeah, so there's, there's the cognac company. I did... I was doing a little research on my own research and I found this as a Sazerac shipping company based out of... I wanted to based out of New York or they, they were headquartered in New York. So it was a really popular French name. And we actually do have a bottle of the Sazerac cognac, we actually only have one. So if you're in, here's a little shameless plug, if you're interested in trying that join our tasting club, the Half-Rats Giggle Water Society.

Connor Brekke 05:25

Right, because Sazerac now is an actual company that's specific to this.

Michael Kashey 05:30

Yes. So Sazerac now makes a rye. And... so we'll actually go back a little bit further to a cocktail. And then I promise you this will tie in. So cocktail sugar water, spirit bitters, beginning of the 19th century was going to be made with rye you can start to see bourbon made until the beginning of the 20th century. So early 1900's bourbon kind of started to pass up rye. So you would then have.. in the mid 1800s, a really big like migration of immigrants were coming in Italy from Italy, France, and they'd be bringing with them their spirits, their their native spirits and stuff that they would drink. Vermouth maraschino came in. So then bartenders being kind of the ever evolving people that we are like "Hey, well, maybe if I take this cocktail, I'll m ake it with, you know, for vermouth." They'll throw a little bit of vermouth in here, throw a little maraschino in here, Curacao, whatever they got their hands on. Late 1800s, you start to see old timers get kind of pissed. They said they want their... "I want my cocktail the old fashioned way." So this is where we get the old fashioned. But at this... still at the same time, these big places would be promoting their house cocktail. So that's kind of where sazerac got its name, it was their house cocktail. So it would be a rye, which is once again, it'd be the old fashioned as we know it now. Rye, sugar, bitters, which we use now called Peychaud's, which is going to be kind of a red licorice, herbal, and then they would throw in a little bit of angostura bitters as well, which is going to be a really herbal, earthy, kind of bitters.

Connor Brekke 07:17

I do remember something about absinthe being used sometimes.

Michael Kashey 07:21

Yeah. So the absinthe would be, you would rinse the glass with the absence. So that's going to be the big difference between an old fashioned, a traditional old fashioned, and a Sazerac is going to be this absinthe, rinse. Oh, and there's no ice. Some people look at ice anyways, as a kind of an obstacle to get around. Whereas with the Sazerac, you can just get straight to your drink.

Connor Brekke 07:44

I do remember going to the... Sazerac Museum in New Orleans, and I do remember that little spritz they do with the absence rinse, and I was like, oh, I've never seen that before.

Michael Kashey 07:56

Yep. Yep. We actually were just there a few weeks ago, and I will say they did a really good job kind of balancing the pop culture, I guess, legend, and the actual history. They did do their plugs, supposedly Thomas Handy, who owned one of the Sazerac saloons was the one who made the switch from cognac to rye, but at the same time, you do kind of need to keep these legends alive as well.

Connor Brekke 08:26

Yeah, you need a little balance between...

Michael Kashey 08:28

Yeah.

Connor Brekke 08:28

...legend and truth. Sometimes the truth is boring.

Michael Kashey 08:31

Sometimes it's super interesting, though, too, because we actually do have kind of a good, good idea who invented the Sazerac cocktail, actually. So we don't see it. In name. New Orleans was always really good with documenting their cocktails. And so we don't see the Sazerac cocktail until the... 1899, I believe was the very first time we saw it in print. And it was coming from the Sazerac House, the Sazerac saloon. And there was two bartenders, Vincent Moray and Billy Wilkinson. And they were, they were big for bottling at the time bottling cocktails was the kind of the pinnacle of cocktail technology, which ironically, if any quarantines taught us anything, it's kind of making a comeback, and they are known for their house cocktails. And this is the first time we see this as a rock house cocktail in print.

Connor Brekke 09:29

So that being in print is kind of like setting in stone that it's official.

Michael Kashey 09:32

Yeah, yep. Especially because they were so good at documenting we've we've seen we saw brandy crusta any kind of house cocktail that was really popular in New Orleans, anytime that place would either expand or if they took out an ad they would say you know "come try our house cocktail, this or whatever." So like if Thomas Moriarty is was down in New Orleans in 18... hundred's we would say, you know, "try our house. Try the Tom Moriarty is cocktail."

Connor Brekke 10:01

And so would be born the T&M drink.

Michael Kashey 10:04

Yeah, yeah, maybe. And I don't know how it would it compare to some of their stuff they were drinking then. New Orleans actually, for the most part never really lost their cocktail culture. Unlike the rest of the country most of the country I should say.

Connor Brekke 10:19

It's pretty strong down there. It's an interesting place. There's a lot of history, I guess you can pick up there.

Michael Kashey 10:24

Culinary and cocktail as well.

Connor Brekke 10:29

Sazerac is like the official New Orleans drink, isn't it? Or like..

Michael Kashey 10:34

Yeah, yep. It's definitely most iconic drink of New Orleans. There's a Sazerac bar in the airport.

Connor Brekke 10:41

Yeah? I didn't know that.

Michael Kashey 10:43

Yeah, we uh... I had my last sazerac flying back. And I maybe should have had my last sazerac in town, in New Orleans proper and not at the airport. Ironically, I've still had worse sazeracs.

Connor Brekke 10:57

That's interesting, too. But I believe it. So Sazerac. It has to be a rye, right?

Michael Kashey 11:05

Yes. Yep. Yep.

Connor Brekke 11:06

Rye, can't be anything else?

Michael Kashey 11:07

Rye and Peychaud bitters. So it's gonna have this like kind of rosy, pinkish hue to it. It's a really, it's a pretty drink, and lemon. Can't forget the lemon. The lemon makes or breaks that drink.

Connor Brekke 11:21

Are there any kind of, I guess, alternate preparation methods that are popular? Or is it pretty straightforward?

Michael Kashey 11:29

No, it's pretty, pretty straightforward. We use simple syrup, other places will use, and there's some bartenders down in New Orleans who do use a sugar cube, we use simple syrup just for consistency purposes.

Connor Brekke 11:42

Right.

Michael Kashey 11:43

And honestly, sazerac's gonna taste better in New Orleans.

Connor Brekke 11:46

Is that just because of the locality of rye? Or is it...

Michael Kashey 11:50

There's something there's something mystical about New Orleans.

Connor Brekke 11:54

Okay, I believe it. There's, there's definitely a lot of good vibes down there. Um, for people who don't really drink.. like whiskey, or.... how would you explain them to... like approach it is, or they just flat out gonna pass on it every time it's there?

Michael Kashey 12:11

No, there... you do have to have an open mind with any, especially with any kind of spirit forward cocktail. This sazerac, since it doesn't get ice is going to be a little bit... I don't wanna say harsher, but it's going to be a little little bit of a stiffer drink than an old fashioned, which even though the specs are the same, you're gonna get some extra dilution. You just you have to be ready though, for that kind of burn.

Connor Brekke 12:36

That's, you know, I haven't been a mixed drink person until I came here. And that kind of stuff scared me. It did just because I wasn't used to it, but you do have to anticipate it and it's not terrible. There's a lot of good flavor in there.

Michael Kashey 12:53

Yeah. Even, even if the the alcohol like flavor itself, that alcohol burn is a little much there still there's sweetness in there. There some spice like the rye spice and then there's a... some earthy, herbal ness to it as well.

Connor Brekke 13:07

And sometimes if... like I do remember that one absinthe the one I had, you could kind of get a little bit of that after the rince... I did anyways.

Michael Kashey 13:15

Yeah,you don't you don't actually... so we have talked last time that absinthe is a black licorice spirit. And this it's just a rince, so you shouldn't be tasting the absinthe. You should be smelling that and then the lemon as well. So it should be kind of herbally citrusy nose, too.

Connor Brekke 13:32

I think that's what it was. I think the scent was still...

Michael Kashey 13:35

Yep

Connor Brekke 13:35

...floating around in the glass because it didn't taste like absinthe at all.

Michael Kashey 13:38

No.

Connor Brekke 13:38

It was just kind of like that, hmmm, there is something different about this.

Michael Kashey 13:42

Yep, that's that's what you, that's what you want.

Connor Brekke 13:44

I thought that was pretty... pretty cool, pretty unique. I didn't know that was the thing. I've only seen the rinse with other stuff. So, I don't know I would say if you're in the area and you'd want to try something classic.. shall we say... give it a shot.

Michael Kashey 14:01

Yeah, sazerac is one of our biggest selling... I'd say it's in our top 10 cocktails of all time. And then our top five for classics. We do we do a lot of sazeracs.

Connor Brekke 14:12

Yes. And they're good. They're really good. So, come on down to Thomas Moriarty's if you're in the Mandan... Bismarck Mandan area and get yourself a Sazerac and a glass of New Orleans.

Michael Kashey 14:25

If you're in New Orleans, get yourself a sazerac.

Connor Brekke 14:28

That too. So until next time, cheers.

Connor Brekke 14:34

The Ombibulous is made possible with Castos, giving creators the tools to connect with their audience and community. The music is courteous of Pond5, with over 25 million royalty free stock videos, music, photos, and sound effect, there's something for every creator. Today's episode was recorded at Thomas and Moriarty's in downtown Mandan, North Dakota. I would like to thank Mr. Kashey for his It's time and the use of his facility to make this episode possible. And of course, a big thanks to all our listeners for all of your support. Until next time, cheers.