Hi y’all – get your drink on for Fat Tuesday with these Genuine Mardi Gras drinks grabbed from the Washington Post:

• Vieux Carre. This is a favorite New Orleans cocktail, invented at the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone — where you measure your drinking time by how many turns you make around the revolving bar. The mix of rye, cognac, sweet vermouth, dashes of Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters and a little kiss of Benedictine is the counterbalance to Bourbon Street shenanigans.  The Vieux Carre was created in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, then the head bartender. The name comes from the French name for the Old Quarter.

1 serving

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 3/4 ounce rye whiskey
• 3/4 ounce cognac
• 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1/8 teaspoon Benedictine liqueur
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Peychaud bitters
• 1 lemon twist, for garnish

Directions:
Fill an 8- to 10-ounce old-fashioned, or rocks, glass. with ice. Add the rye, cognac, vermouth, Benedictine and both bitters, and stir to mix well. Garnish with the lemon twist.

Recipe Source: Adapted from “Mixing New Orleans,” by Phillip Collier (Philbeau Publishing, 2007).

• Sazerac. Here’s the official drink of New Orleans, made so by a vote of the Louisiana legislature in June. The traditional version calls for Sazerac rye whiskey (though any rye works fine) and Herbsaint, an absinthe substitute from New Orleans. Now that real absinthe is available in the United States, Spirits columnist Jason Wilson recommends using it for this cocktail. Make sure to always use Peychaud’s bitters.

Also, tradition be damned: Please feel free to enjoy this cocktail with an ice cube or two.

1 serving

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 1 sugar cube
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
• 1/4 ounce absinthe (may substitute Pernod)
• Twist of lemon peel, for garnish

Directions:Pack an old-fashioned glass with ice to chill it down.Combine the sugar cube and bitters in a separate old-fashioned glass; muddle until the sugar dissolves. Add the rye whiskey and an ice cube; stir to mix well.Discard the ice from the packed old-fashioned glass; add the absinthe just to coat the chilled glass, pouring out any that remains. Strain the whiskey-sugar mixture into the chilled glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink, rub it around the rim of the glass, then use it as a garnish.

Recipe Source:   Adapted from the “official” recipe served at the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans in July.

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• Cocktail a la Louisiane. Another variation on the Vieux Carre and Sazerac — in fact, you could easily set up a small bar of five bottles and two bitters to serve these first three cocktails.

1 serving

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 3/4 ounce rye whiskey
• 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 3/4 ounce Benedictine
• 3 to 4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 2 to 3 dashes absinthe (may use an absinthe substitute, such as Pernod)
• Twist of lemon peel, for garnish

Directions: Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add the rye whiskey, vermouth, Benedictine and the bitters and absinthe to taste. Stir vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail (martini) glass.Garnish with the twist of lemon peel.

Recipe Source:Adapted from “Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em,” by Stanley Clisby Arthur (Pelican, 1977; first published 1937)

 

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• Boston Club Punch. This was the traditional drink of New Orleans’s turn-of-the-20th-century Boston Club. It’s an odd recipe to a modern audience, since it seems to include a very small amount of booze in relation to the white wine and sparkling wine. But one must understand that it’s served in a huge punch bowl and was meant to be consumed all afternoon and into the evening. In other words, it’ll catch up with you.

Kirschwasser or kirsch is a clear cherry eau di vie. MAKE AHEAD: The orange peel-sugar mixture needs to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. The punch mixture needs to be refrigerated for 1 to 2 hours.About 20 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 ounces (7 tablespoons) sugar
• Peel and freshly squeezed juice of 2 oranges (the peel should have no pith)
• 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into small dice
• 3 ounces raspberry syrup
• 1 ounce cognac, preferably VSOP
• 1 ounce kirschwasser (see headnote)
• 1/2 ounce rum (see headnote)
• 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
• 2 cups chilled dry white wine
• 1 liter chilled seltzer water
• Two 750-ml bottles chilled sparkling wine
• Twists of orange peel, for garnish

Directions: Prepare an oleo-saccharum (sweet oil) by combining the sugar and orange peel pieces in a mixing glass. Muddle until the sugar is moist with oil from the peels. Let sit for about 30 minutes.Add the pineapple chunks and muddle, then add the orange juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved.Strain the liquid into a large pitcher or jug, pressing the pulp to extract as much juice as possible. Add the raspberry syrup, cognac, kirschwasser, rum, Grand Marnier and white wine; stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two.When ready to serve, add the seltzer water to the refrigerated mixture and stir.Pour 4 ounces into each wineglass, then top each portion with about 2 ounces of sparkling wine. Garnish with an orange twist.

• Pimm’s Cup. A staple of the famed Napoleon House Bar and Cafe. Such wonderful simplicity: Two ounces of Pimm’s No. 1 in an ice-filled highball glass, topped with 7UP. Squeeze in a generous slice of lemon and garnish with a cucumber. Repeat as necessary.

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• Cajun Lemonade. A contemporary, higher-octane variation on the Pimm’s Cup for people who like spicy. It calls for the addition of cachaça as well Louisiana’s own Tabasco sauce.

This punch draws its name from both the hot sauce used as an ingredient and the famed Pimm’s Cup cocktail (Pimm’s, lemonade and 7-Up) served at the Napoleon House Bar and Cafe in New Orleans.The original called for white rum, but Spirits columnist Jason Wilson suggests using cachaca for a richer, more interesting drink.8 servings

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces cachaca
• 4 ounces Pimm’s No 1
• 8 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 1/2 lemons)
• 4 ounces simple syrup (see NOTE)
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
• Ice
• 8 ounces chilled lemon-lime soda, such as 7-Up
• Lemon wheels, for garnish