Diagnosing and Treating a Bad Sazerac: Cocktail Malpractice and Spiritual Redemption

After visiting Kentucky's Bourbon Trail two weeks ago (see here and here) and buying a new rye (Russell's Reserve Single Barrel) and fancy bitters (Peychaud's Barrel Aged), I was eager to put them to the test in a cocktail together.  Upon returning home from Louisville, I purchased a brand new absinthe (Kubler) and was ready to make a bad-ass sazerac.  I like to think of myself as a sazerac connoisseur, and I pride myself on my ability to make a proper sazerac that tastes great.
So, I began crafting my cocktail:

• I filled a rocks glass with ice and cold water and set aside to chill
• In a mixing glass, I placed 2 small sugar cubes (as the cubes I had were smaller than standard size)
• I used multiple dashes of the Barrel Aged Peychaud's bitters to saturate the cubes, then added a splash  of water
• I muddled the mixture until the sugar had become a syrup
• I added 2 oz of rye 
• I stirred thoroughly
• I added multiple ice cubes
• I stirred for 40 seconds
• I then took the rocks glass and discarded the ice and water contents down the sink
• I poured a splash of absinthe into the rocks glass, swirling it around the bottom and walls of the glass, then discarded the extra (confession: into my mouth)
• Next, I came back to the mixing glass, and strained the contents into the absinthe rinsed rocks glass
• I peeled a slice of fresh lemon peel, and expressed the oils over the drink and brushed the rim of the glass

Now, the moment of truth:  I placed the cocktail to my nose.  I inhaled, but not much aroma tickled my nose.  My olfactory was sort of without stimulation.  No matter.  This wasn't crafted for my nose.  I made this for my tongue.  I took a sip, and....
Eh.  Yep, just eh.  It wasn't bad.  It was just, plain.  Perhaps weak.  There was no bite or kick.  But how could that be?  I used new, fresh, expensive liquor.  I followed all the proper steps.  But the drink was simply unremarkable.

As you can imagine, I was very disappointed.  And I knew I had to figure out where I went wrong.  I decided to use my diagnostic skills to prevent this from ever happening again.

In medicine, we think of the worst case scenario, and weigh the probability of that occurring.  For instance, if a patient has chest pain, immediately you need to assess the risk of the patient having a heart attack.  In a 16 year old boy, chest pain more likely is due to prolonged coughing, pneumonia, muscle strains from weightlifting, etc. than from a heart attack (not that it couldn't happen).  In a 70 year old man with chest pain who is a smoker, has hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes, you are much more concerned about ruling out a heart attack given those risk factors.

Back to the cocktail: what was the worst case scenario here?   My biggest fear was that these particular ingredients just didn't mix well together.  Because if that was true, the situation can't be fixed.  Was this rye not suited for cocktails?  (I had already drank it neat and enjoyed it a lot.). Was the barrel aged variety of Peychaud's obstructing the flavor?  Was the Kubler absinthe putting the kibosh on the drink?  My old absinthe, Grande Absente, had always been fine.  Ultimately I surmised that the odds of any of the liquors being the culprit were small.  That led me to an uncomfortable reality: most likely the problem was me more so than my ingredients.  For a cocktail enthusiast and wanna-be bartender, then was a blow to the old self-esteem.

I took a moment to further analyze the drink.  Other than being underwhelming, what exactly could be improved?  For one, it wasn't spirit forward.  And it should be, given that it is practically all rye.  So how did my cocktail become weak?  I bet it was from too much melting of ice when stirring, and after stirring while I was preparing the serving glass with the absinthe rinse.
What else was wrong?  The drink was a bit too sweet.  As of two weeks ago this would have suited my palate, but after my recent trip to Kentucky where the whiskey was served neat, I started drinking more that way at home, and my palate had changed.  I think I now appreciate drinks less sugary than before.  As such, my two small sugar cubes should have been just be one.  And come to think of it, the sugar cubes were old.  When it takes excessive force to muddle a sugar cube despite being saturated with bitters and a splash of water, that sugar should be used only for hot coffee or tea.

After 2 days of pondering what went wrong, I had an opportunity to re-craft my drink.  I reviewed all of the problems with the drink in my head.  I had to use improved technique.  I decided to ditch the old sugar cubes and used caster sugar instead.  So I went about the following:

• I filled a rocks glass with ice and cold water and set aside to chill
• In a mixing glass, I placed 1 bar spoon of caster sugar
• I used multiple dashes of the Barrel Aged Peychaud's bitters to saturate the sugar, then added a splash  of water
• I stirred the mixture until the sugar had become a syrup
• I added 2 oz of rye 
• I stirred thoroughly and set aside
• I then took the rocks glass and discarded the ice and water contents down the sink
• I used a clean cloth to dry out the excess water in the rocks glass
• I poured a splash of absinthe into the glass, swirling it around the bottom and walls of the glass, then discarded the extra (again, into my mouth)
• Next, I came back to the mixing glass, and added just 4 ice cubes, then quickly stirred for 20-25 seconds only
• I immediately strained the contents into the absinthe rinsed rocks glass
• I peeled a slice of fresh lemon peel, and expressed the oils over the drink and brushed the rim of the glass

I took a minute to look at my creation.  There was definitely less volume in the glass than my previous sazerac.  This tells me that there wasn't  excess dilution.  I smelled the drink.  It was spicey and herbal, with a hint of lemon oil.  Now the moment of truth, the taste: incredible meets sublime!  This was definitely how the sazerac should taste (and how it didn't taste last time).  The cocktail was spirit forward.  It was smooth and spicey.  The absinthe was present like a whisper.  There was a hint of sweetness, but it didn't intrude on the kick from the rye.

Post-Mortem Analysis:

If I had to point to one main thing that likely ruined my first drink, it was that I used too much ice when stirring.  I likely stirred too long.  Plus, the ice continued to melt while I was preparing the rocks glass with absinthe.  When I usually make a sazerac, I spray absinthe with an atomizer to prep the glass.  This usually has excellent results, is accomplished very quickly, and doesn't waste liquor.  Since I was using a new absinthe, and since I still had my old Grande Absente absinthe in the atomizer, I didn't want to mix the two liquors, so I had to use the old fashioned "rinse" method (which takes more time, and allowed for more ice melting in the cocktail).  When I made the drink the second time, I decided to prepare the rocks glass with absinthe before stirring the cocktail with ice.  While this didn't allow for maximum glass chill, it did allow for the drink to have maximum chill without the fatal over-dilution.

The second time I made the drink, note that I used caster sugar instead of the sugar cubes.  Caster sugar is very fine and is easier to incorporate into solution.  I didn't even need to muddle it.  I won't be using the sugar cubes I first used for cocktails anymore.
When a cocktail doesn't taste good, despite making it the same way in the past and it did taste good, and you're certain you made all of the proper measurements, you need to look at the fine details of your technique.  It is these subtleties that make the difference between something good and something great.  With a renewed focus on the exact details and precise techniques, my new rye, absinthe, and bitters finally redeemed my sazerac from bad to bad-ass.  Now go make one for yourself!

I would love to hear your comments regarding the above or of your experiences learned when honing your bar-tending skills!  Please leave a comment below.