Post #723959 by djmont on Sun, Jul 27, 2014 3:49 PM

Yep, Sazerac was the name of the cognac (Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils) as well as the establishment (Sazerac Coffee House) where the cocktail was invented, circa 1850. It was a combination of cognac, absinthe, sugar and Peychaud's bitters (the anise-flavored kind made down the street by Creole apothecary Antoine Amadie Peychaud).

When cognac became hard to get -- due to the Phylloxera outbreak of the late 1870s and '80s -- they replaced the brandy with rye whiskey. When absinthe was outlawed in the U.S. in 1912, it was replaced with locally-produced pastis Herbsaint. ("Herb Sainte" was what they called wormwood in New Orleans.)

As a historical footnote, the bar was eventually taken over by Thomas Handy -- this is why one of the rye whiskeys in Buffalo Trace's Antique Collection is named after Handy. (The other is Sazerac.) Handy is supposedly the one who gave the recipe for the Sazerac to William T. Boothby, who first published it in his book The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (1908).