Straight from New Orleans – here´s a different take on the Sazerac…
Created by a friend of mine, Geoffrey Wilson – celebrating Haiti’s influence on New Orleans culture at Loa in downtown New Orleans! it´s a Sazerac with Barbancourt rum instead of rye or cognac spiced up with cloves and Jerry Thomas bitters.
The drink was created on in january this year at the Cheers conference when a bunch of New Orleans bartenders were working the tiki bar to set up. Someone asked Geoffrey to make a tiki version of a true New Orleans classic, and this is what he came up with – and the drink worked out to the point of Geoffrey making a bunch of  them.
Then the drink recipe was brought to Loa, and it’s been on the menu since. Guess who´s soon gonna go over to Loa and try the original? yep yours truly…:-)
A mix of New Orleans classic, Haiti and Tiki…if that´s not pretty ecclectic i don´t know what is – and the result is inspirational! and tasty…
Rhum Barbancourt is made in Haiti and is different from other rums in that it´s not an agriole, and not a molasses rum but still uses fresh sugarcane juice. So it sits on it´s own and is made like cognac. They ferment the juice for three days and there aged rums is double distilled. Age it in oak, blend it, cold filter, and bottle.
Dupre Barbancourt was a cognac maker from France. His double distillation method was revolutionary in Haiti back in 1862, using fresh cane juice. It’s not agricole because it’s not made in Martinique and distilled at lower proof. It’s more like agricole than most rums, but it’s truly unique among all rums.
During the fresh cane cutting season, january to late april, they’ re using fresh cane. Other times of the year they use cane juice concentrated into syrup, which does not spoil.
The syrup is similar to Zacapa’s “sugar cane honey” which is also used for some parts of Diplomatico Exclusiva.
But here is the drink recipe so you can make it at home if you can´t go to Loa.
BARBANCOURT SAZERAC
2 oz Rhum Barbancourt 8 (or 5)
.5 oz simple syrup (skinny)
6 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas bitters
2 cloves
Herbsaint rinse – rinse the serving glass with Herbsaint and discard or leave, your choice – i prefer to leave it in the glass just as it´s done in the video.
Proceed as in the video by adding everything else into a mixing glass, adding ice and stir then strain into the serving glass which should be chilled before using it and finish with twisting a lemon peel above the glass to let the oils come out and if you wish also rinse the rim with the peel.
Oh the fragrance….
Don`t have the Jerry Thomas bitters? sub with some more cloves and dashes of Creole bitters – don´t have the Creole bitters? use Peychauds.
This turned out to be a very nice and spicy drink and it tasted Sazerac alright! like an exotic cousin…golden brownish color and with a dust of cloves…a very fine drink indeed.
Hi Tiatre, and hope you remain well. This is probably old business, but the subject of what is an “agricole” and what is not is well established. “Agricole” is simply the French term for what we English speaking folks call “cane juice rum” – one of the two basic categories: molasses based, and cane juice based. This should not be confused with the AOC label peculiar to only those cane juice rums (or agricoles) produced in Martinque. Agricoles are produced in at least nine different countries, not least Haiti.
Haiti’s agricole was perhaps the original cane juice rum, established in the 1700’s, with Barbancourt appearing in the 1800’s. OTOH Martinique’s self-created AOC label did not appear until the 1990’s. The term “agricole” is simply generic and the French term for what we call “cane juice rum”.
In sum Barbancourt is absolutely a cane juice rum, or “agricole” if you prefer. BTW, we love Barbancourt’s agricole and it’s lovely dry cane juice profile, which is especially demonstrated by either the white or by the Three Star. The Five Star as you know is widely respected as perhaps one of the finest agricoles in the world.
BTW, your Sazerac sounds lovely, but we’ll have to make do with our Angostura…
vintage cocktail recipes – Me too!
darkgrape – Of course you can…pick your best rum and do it! you`ll get a Rum-sazerac:-)
Why don’t you just make the original cocktail with rum?
Love the sazerac with all types of booze, from the original brandy, through the ryes, to even RUM! Love it! Cheers!
Frederic – what i do is rinsing the glass with very little and then let it stay in the glass..:-)so i guess i get both evaporation and a little at the bottom…
Sunny&Rummy – Pimento dram! great idea!
Kat – i sent you an e-mail!
Hey Tiare,
I’m pretty new to the site and I’m trying to add you to my Google Reader feed since I don’t have time to go check a bunch of blogs every day. However, every post is showing up truncated in the feed- do you have it set up that way on purpose, or is there a way for me to adjust it?
Thanks!
Great post, Tiare, and a recipe I will be trying tonight for sure. Funny that I had just replied of the Ministry thread with a bit on the Barbancourt vs. Martinique agricole issue when you had just touched on the same ideas here!
I just picked up the Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas bitters last week after searching for them for a couple of years, and I was very surprised to discover how much allspice dominates the flavor and aroma of the product. That being the case, for a substitution recommendation in the Barbancourt Sazarac, I would suggest a dash of Pimento Dram along with the Peychauds or Creole bitters and cloves.
Part of rinsing the rocks glass is to get the Herbsaint into the aroma by coating the glass’ walls and letting it evaporate. You don’t need to waste the Herbsaint by pouring it out, but just putting it at the bottom of the rocks glass is no different than just putting it in the mixing glass to begin with.
I also don’t see the point (other than show) for rinsing cocktail glasses when they are filled up since that evaporative aspect is eliminated.