Where y’at, Sazerac?

The famous drink from the equally famous Roosevelt Hotel

Every man needs a drink.

By that I do not mean that every man needs to have a drink in his hand at all times, or even on a regular basis, but rather, every man should have a select drink that he can definitively call his own.

It is the man’s chosen beverage, his personal nectar of the gods, his holy grail of liquid libations. Like a lucky pair of jeans, that old hunting dog, or that old leather wallet that’s falling apart at the seams that you can’t bring yourself to replace, a man’s preferred drink is vital to his very being.

It is in many ways an astute observation, nay, a very personification of his masculinity.

When it comes to adult beverages in New Orleans, there are a few that stand above the rest as classically New Orleanian. Drinks such as the Ramos Gin Fizz, the Absinthe Frappe, or even Pat O’Brian’s Famous Hurricane have all come to be a point of pride for New Orleans cocktail aficionados.

Above all cocktails, however, sitting at a golden bar at the pinnacle of top-shelf consumption, lies the Sazerac, New Orleans’s finest contribution to imbibers the world over.

Given the undeniable allure of the Sazerac, both as America’s first cocktail and the legally recognized official cocktail of New Orleans, it seemed fitting that I should find the perfect Sazerac.

Now, having scoured the city for hints as to where to find the finest incarnation of this institutional beverage, I have, in my humble opinion, found the best Sazerac in the city of New Orleans. Along the way there were some bumps and bruises, as to be expected when roaming New Orleans streets, but a Sazerac done right is truly a joy to behold, a sort of pseudo-spiritual experience within the confines of my liver.

In the days to come, I will chronicle my search for the perfect Sazerac. What you will read about are some of the best purveyors of Sazeracs our fair city can produce.

Stay tuned: Sazerac, Part One will post on Wednesday.

Joh Sedtal writes about New Orleans bars and cocktails for NolaVie.