Sazerac Riff #1

Written By Wonderstruck Wanderings
Sazerac riff made with Nikka From the Barrel, tropical bitters, demerara sugar and a coffee-liqueur rinse

The Sazerac is one of the oldest, simplest, and most flavorful cocktails on record — often called America's first cocktail. It traces back to 1830s New Orleans, where a Creole apothecary began mixing his own bitters into brandy for friends at his French Quarter pharmacy. The base spirit later shifted from cognac to rye whiskey, and somewhere along the way a rinse of absinthe (later Herbsaint, once absinthe was banned) got added to the glass. What survives today is just bitters, sugar, and rye bound together with that anise rinse — a template so simple it leaves endless room for a bartender's own riff.

Ingredients

Sazerac riff made with Nikka From the Barrel, tropical bitters, demerara sugar and a coffee-liqueur rinse

  • 2 oz Japanese whiskey (using Nikka From the Barrel)

  • 1 bar spoon coffee liqueur, for rinse (using Mr. Black)

  • Bitters (using Tropic Bitters from Antimixologist)

  • 1–2 Demerara sugar cubes

Steps

  1. Add a bar spoon of coffee liqueur to your Old Fashioned glass or brandy snifter and swirl to coat the entire glass. Discard the excess (or sip it up) and set the glass aside.

  2. Add the sugar cubes and 8–12 drops of bitters to a mixing glass.

  3. Muddle the sugar cubes with the bitters.

  4. Add the whiskey and stir briefly to dissolve.

  5. Add ice and stir until well-chilled and diluted to your liking.

  6. Strain into the coated glass, with or without ice.

Nikka whisky Sazerac variation paired with 75 percent Belizean dark chocolate

Paired With

75% Belize from Ritual Chocolate

This 75% dark chocolate is made with Maya Mountain cacao from Belize — crafted, somewhat improbably, out of Utah. It's a classic bar, with big cherry, ripe fig, and tobacco notes that linger long after the bite. This pairing started as a fall-favorite riff — the Sazerac — turned into a bit of an experiment: build a cocktail that could actually stand up to the chocolate's tobacco and earthy undertones. Swapping the rye for Japanese Nikka From the Barrel and trading the absinthe rinse for a coffee liqueur rinse (a nod to Ruari from Bonneville Cocktail for that idea) opened the door, but the real MVP was the bitters. A dozen drops of Tropic Bitters, courtesy of Santiago at Antimixologist, brought a fruitiness that plays beautifully off the chocolate — the cherry and fig in the bar meeting the bitters halfway, while the coffee rinse and tobacco notes hold the earthy, smoky backbone together.

Wonderstruck Wanderings