Hailing from the historic New Orleans restaurant La Louisiane, this spiritous cocktail is a less vaunted member of the Southern cocktail canon and contains many liquid tropes of New Orleans drinking: Peychaud’s bitters, a touch of absinthe, and rye whiskey (all chiefly associated with the Sazerac); Benedictine (notable in the Vieux Carré); and red vermouth (relating it to its northern neighbor, the manhattan). Due to the precision required in balancing it through proper measurement, this drink has long been a litmus test in the training of all Maison Premiere bartenders, alongside more prominent names such as the martini and the daiquiri. The recipe was first printed in the 1938 classic New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em.
This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Maison Premiere Almanac' by Joshua Boissy, Krystof Zizka, and Jordan Mackay. Buy the full book on Amazon.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients
Preparation
In a mixing glass, combine the absinthe, bitters, Bénédictine, vermouth, and rye, and then fill with ice. Stir the mixture rapidly to chill and strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a skewered candied cherry.
