The COCKTAILS of NEW ORLEANS

Happy Mardi Gras! Laissez les bons temps rouler - with booze! (Click photos for credits)
The cocktail was not invented in New Orleans but it certainly calls NOLA home. Certainly some famous and delicious libations grew out of the Big Easy. You can, of course, have any cocktail you'd like in New Orleans but there are a few you need to try if you want to "drink in" the true spirits of the birthplace of jazz. Heck, you wouldn't go there without having a beignet, some mudbugs (Crawfish), gumbo, King Cake or chicory coffee, why miss the local liquid offerings? What to drink in New Orleans?

TRY SOME OF MY MARDI GRAS INSPIRED COCKTAILS

SAZERAC

Designated on June 23, 2008, as New Orleans official cocktail by the Louisiana legislature. Be sure to check out this fun adaptation I did for the SAG Awards a while back: The Sagzerac
1.5 Oz. Cognac 1/2 Oz. Absinthe One sugar cube Few drops of water Two dashes Peychaud's Bitters 1 Drop Angoustura Bitters
Wash the an Old Fashioned (rocks) glass with the absinthe. (Washing a glass is rolling the liquid in the bowl then dumping out the excess), set glass aside. Drop the sugar cube in another Old Fashioned glass, add the drop of Angoustura Bitters to the sugar cube, then the water and muddle with the cognac. Add ice, stir until chilled then strain into the absinthe washed rocks glass, express the lemon twist over the drink then discard the twist.

HURRICANE Beloved by tourists and Spring Break collegiates. Created in New Orleans by Pat O'Brien in the 1940's.

VIEUX CARRÉ  Invented by Walter Bergeron, the head bartender at the Monteleone Hotel (Carousel Bar) in New Orleans in the 1930s, the Vieux Carré was named after the French Quarter , the "Old Square" (Vieux Carré).

(Image in public domain)

ARNAUD'S SPECIAL

The house cocktail of the famous Arnaud's Restaurant in the 1940's, this is a Southern take on a Rob Roy where the sweet vermouth and Angoustura Bitters are replaced with the Dubonnet and orange bitters.
2 Oz. Balvenie Doublewood Scotch 1 Oz. Dubonnet Rouge 3 Dashes of Orange Bitters
Stir in a mixing glass with ice until chilled then strain into a chilled cocktail (martini) glass. Express then garnish with an orange twist. 

FRENCH 75 Named for a French artillery gun, the French 75 was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris (Harry's New York Bar) by Harry MacElhone. There is another version that substitutes cognac for the gin, but not in my universe. 
1 oz Gin 2 oz Champagne 1/2 oz Lemon juice 2 Dashes Simple Syrup
Add the gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a Champagne flute. Top off with the Champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist.

RAMOS FIZZ My favorite of the bunch! Originally called a New Orleans Fizz, the Ramos Fizz was invented by Henry C. Ramos at his bar in Meyer’s restaurant in New Orleans in 1888. I have several fun variations as well; the Cherry Diamond Ramos Fizz, the Golden Ramos Fizz and the Absinthe Minded Leprechaun!

Combine all the liquid ingredients in a blender and dry blend for a minute to emulsify the egg white and aerate the cocktail. Transfer this to an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for another minute to chill.* Pour into a Tom Collins glass and garnish with an elaborate orange rind carving. 
* Interesting fact: back in the good old days, before blenders, creator Ramos insisted you needed to shake the Ramos Fizz for a full 15 minutes. This is what was required to create the meringue like consistency of this cocktail. There is the famous incident where one bar lined up 15 shaker boys and sent the cocktail down the line because one shaker boy could not shake a cocktail longer than a minute without his arms seizing up! Thank goodness for mod-cons!

Updated 2-2019 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY