A Good Doctor’s Lagniappe
Sinner's Sazerac
“Just a little somethin' we have here in Louisiana. Little parlor trick, don't worry.”
30.43% ABV | Yield: 3.08 fl oz | Themed Cocktail, Fandom Cocktail. Classic, Pre-Prohibition, New Orleans . Improved Cocktail, 19th Century
2 oz or 60ml Brandy
2 tsp or 10 ml demerara syrup
3-5 dashes Peychaud's Aromatic Cocktail Bitters
1 Lemon twist
Express oils from lemon peel and regal stir*, strain into chilled neat glass that you have rinsed with or spritzed with absinthe verte.
Drink your sins and follow with
Retour de la Mort
“-I HOPE you’re SATISFIED! But if you ain’t-- don’t blame me...”
15.51% ABV | Yield: Approx 1.5 fl oz | Themed Cocktail, Fandom Cocktail, Champagne Cocktail, Chaser/Back, Shooter
Soak sugar cube with absinthe verte in shot glass or pony glass; To boost color, 1-2 drops of Midori can be used as well.
Pour brut-style sparkling wine in and serve on a tray next to Sinner’s Sazerac.
•Lagniappe[lan-yap] is "a little something extra". Usually, its meant like a little extra something good, a bonus, you know, something to sweeten the deal. What’s sweeter than a spoonful of absinthe and some sugar?
•Facilier is clearly a Cognac Sazerac guy, I just don’t see the rye version in his hand. But, he's a fraudster. So we use can use American Brandy. Honestly, E&J is ubiquitous in America for barely $10 a bottle, so go with E&J Grand Blue for a sweeter drink, and E&J XO for a easier to sip, “smoother” drink. Alternatively, ignore me and use your favorite Cognac -- I like Ansac VS, the cheap Raynal VSOP blend is amazing, Martell VSOP, and honestly everything I’ve had from ABK6. Hennessy leans more on a bitter orange note than I prefer. Literally, this is a drink designed to feature the spirit and just give a little je ne sais quoi. Pick a brandy you’d like to drink, not just a bottle that had a huge marketing budget.
•The back is essentially Death In The Afternoon scaled down, hence the name, which most literally reads “Return of Death” i.e. -- A Death-Back. Remember, 'brut-style' -- no AOC Champagne required. An extra dry Cava is preferable to a Prosecco here. Remember -- drink the spirits you like the way you like to drink them, but when it comes to champagne cocktails, you really don’t need to spend much. Its a vehicle, the things you modify with are the drivers.
For a drink with a sidecar, honestly, it’s totally up to you if you shot the back or if you alternate between sips of the main drink and the shooter. Genuinely, give it a go however you like. I tend to do the latter, and its a great contrast here, but symbolically, shooting the champagne back is more accurate to symbolize how the song goes.
This is dedicated in part to Doug Ankrah, who created the most defining champagne sidecar drink in the Pornstar Martini. RIP[REST IN PORN] my good dude.
*Regal stir or regal shake is to include a piece of zest in the stage of cocktail creation wherein you are introducing aeration, chilling and dilution to the cocktail. This is essentially lightly muddling it and releases the flavonoids stored in the lipid cells, just like when you twist a piece over a drink -- but this integrates them with more nuance on the tongue as opposed to primarly affecting aroma.
Why the regal stir for this version? Why -- he’s a royal on his mother’s side, you know.
