17 / 96
The Sazerac Cocktoil
Oldtimers will tell you the three outstanding drinks
of New Orleans in the memory of living men were the
dripped absinthe frappe of the Old Absinthe House,
the Ramos gin fizz, and the Sazerac cocktail.
As previously related, the American cocktail was not
only born in Old New Orleans but was given its curious
name in the city's famous Vieux Carre. There are cock
tails and cocktails but the best known of all New Or
leans cocktails is unquestionably the Sazerac. The fact
that it originated in New Orleans gave rise to the legend
that it was first concocted by and named for an old Loui
siana family, legend without fact as no such Louisiana
family ever existed.
A barbershop now holds forth in a building on the
right hand side of the first block in Royal street going
down from Canal, and before its doors, still remains
lettered in the sidewalk the word "SAZERAC." This
denotative indicated the entranceway to a once well-
patronized bar on the Exchange Alley side of the build
ing. It was here the drink famed far and wide as a
Sazerac cocktail was mixed and dispensed. It was here
it was christened with the name it now bears.
For years one of the favorite brands of cognac imported
Seventeen