21 Apr NOLA Week: Cocktail A La Louisiane Cocktail Recipe
Cocktail A La Louisiane
Inspired by some research for a New Orleans themed party that never happened, we’re spending the week celebrating New Orleans’ long and illustrious relationship with the cocktail. Previously, we’ve covered the Ramos Gin Fizz and two of our own New Orleans inspired recipes, the Auntie Saz and Who Let in the Brit? Today, we enjoy the long lost classic, the Cocktail A La Louisiane.
The A La Louisiane is the product of the hot early 20th Century rivalry between the Hotel A La Louisiane and the Hotel Monteleone around the corner. The Monteleone threw down first, with the Vieux Carre, and the A La Louisiane responded with their own house cocktail–or the other way around maybe. Sounds like an exciting time to be a hotel bartender, and a cocktail drinker. We tried them both, and the A La Louisiane won this post … but the Vieux Carre was good enough that we’ll probably come back to it some other time.
As is almost always the case with these classic cocktail, there’s no agreed upon recipe. We follow Cocktail Chronicles‘ recipe for three reasons: 1) when in doubt, go with Cocktail Chronicles, 2) we like the prominence of vermouth and liqueur in this version, thinking that Benedictine in particular is usually used too sparingly, and 3) we’re fans of recipes involving equal proportions (see here and here).
Ingredients
- .75 oz rye whiskey (we used Bulleit–we’ve been trying it out recently)
- .75 oz sweet vermouth (we used Capitoline, which was very nice, but it could be argued that it’s a little over the top, and the more standard Dolin would do just fine)
- .75 oz Benedictine
- 2 dashes anise liqueur (we used Wigle’s Absent Minded; it’s delicious)
- 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
- Luxardo cherry, for garnish
Instructions
- Stir with ice for 30 rotations.
- Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with the cherry.
