Long associated as the birthplace of American jazz, the Pelican State also boasts a strong culinary and beverage heartbeat. Ask any horn player on Frenchman Street, any person attending a crawfish boil, and anyone walking around with a Pimm’s Cup “go cup” and they’ll tell you the same. Though it originated in early nineteenth-century London, New Orleans deserves all the credit for putting the Pimm’s Cup on an American cocktail map, as it started making NOLA waves in the 1940s at Napoleon House in the French Quarter. It’s low-alcohol, photogenic, and one can even “play jazz” with some of the ingredients and garnishes. It’s the ideal drink for hot summer weather, backyard barbecues, post-golf outings, and watching the kids run around the pool while mama pelican fixes another round.
Louisiana
From the music in the streets to the people you are lucky to meet, New Orleans holds a special place in my heart. It is the first city I have ever visited where I was plotting my return as I was boarding my flight out of town.
The open-container laws in New Orleans are certainly unique. Even the fanciest bars and restaurants all have to-go cups for take-away drinks, which can be a real asset for a bartender. There is the opportunity to serve guests even when there are no seats at the bar, as well as the ability to add on a sale for people who want to enjoy a proper cocktail on their way to a concert or Saints game.
—Brad Goocher, bar manager, Cane & Table (New Orleans)
New Orleans cocktail history is not only on par with that of many other cities associated with creating new cocktails, you could make the argument that the city is the Mecca of Cocktails, as chances are you have enjoyed five or six of its famous recipes all over the world. These days, New Orleans holds cocktail court sessions with Tales of the Cocktail, the annual conference for bartenders, bar owners, liquor brands, and all learned fans of libations, held every July. The city is a “living history exhibit” as the southern writer John T. Edge calls it, and still has longstanding bars making some of the most unforgettable Sazeracs (first served at the Sazerac House in the 1890s), Ramos Gin Fizzes (first made in 1888 by Henry Charles “Carl” Ramos at Pat Moran’s Imperial Cabinet, but still alive and kicking today at the Roosevelt Room), Hurricanes (from Pat O’Brien’s in 1942), Brandy Milk Punches (popularized in the 1940s at the venerable classic Brennan’s), Vieux Carrés (originated at the carousel bar at Hotel Monteleone in 1934), Grasshoppers (from Tujague’s—pronounced “two jacks”—since 1919), French 75s (originally from Europe, but adopted by the venerable Chris Hannah during his time behind the stick at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar on Bienville Street, where they are made with Cognac instead of gin), Brandy Crustas (from Jewel of the South circa the 1950s), and the Napoleon House’s Pimm’s Cups (originating in London but claimed by New Orleans in the 1940s). Pretty much any bartender off Bourbon Street is equipped to build these classic cocktails, but there are some standouts.
At Tropical Isle, ordering the “secret” off-menu “shark attack” is one of my favorite bar experiences of all time. Sirens, bells, whistles, screaming bartenders, and a plastic shark bigger than the cup it’s served in become part of the show that makes New Orleans New Orleans.
—Brian Kelley, owner, Guest Room (Starkville, MS)
There are bartenders in NOLA who gain acclaim for enduring, and Chris McMillan is an ideal example. Imbibe included McMillan as one of the top twenty-five most influential bar people of the twentieth century. He is not only an accomplished bartender with extensive knowledge of classic cocktails, he is a cofounder of the Museum of the American Cocktail, headquartered in New Orleans. McMillan’s bar, Revel, is a wonderful place to visit when you wish to see consummate bar professionals at work.
So many great historic and modern cocktail bars are waiting for you in New Orleans: the well-designed and cocktail renaissance–inspiring Cure, Old Absinthe House, Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29, Pat O’Brien’s, SoBou, Bar Tonique, Jewel of the South (recently reopened with notable NOLA libations guru Chris Hannah and rum savant Nick Detrich at the helm, who are also responsible for the Cuban-inspired Manolito), and Barrel Proof, to name a few. A stop at the Bourbon O Bar in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel shows how the well-documented history of New Orleans and its drinking traditions can come alive in accomplished hands, like those of bar director Cheryl Charming. New school and old school. Like a well-seasoned gumbo, just waiting for you to grab a spoon and dig in.
There’s no question that New Orleans, founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718, is the heartbeat of Louisiana. We should all bow to the beauty of New Orleans, the people who have lived, loved, and endured in its magnificent streets. Its culture knows no equal.
LOUISIANA SPIRIT
Originally made in Ojen, Spain, ojen (“oh-hen”) made its way to New Orleans in the mid-1800s and eventually became the de rigueur spirit for Mardi Gras, when people would sip it for good luck. It is a popular New Orleans anise-flavored liquor no one outside the city has ever heard of—and it nearly went extinct in 2009, until it was brought back in 2016 by the venerble Sazerac Company. The true Ojen cocktail hasn’t changed in more than a hundred years, and is remarkably simple and equally delicious: a shot of ojen, a few drops of Peychaud’s bitters, and some club soda over ice.
With a program that pays homage to the melting pot of cultures that defines the historic port culture of New Orleans, Cane & Table is unlike any other cocktail bar in the country. The minimalist décor (they literally just stripped the bar down to its original bones in many instances) makes it feel like you’re stepping into a bar that would have existed there on Decatur during colonial times, and the drinks—a mixture of pre-tiki and modern recipes with ingredients plucked from historic trade routes—are always balanced and memorable. To me, it’s perfect in every way.
—Emma Janzen, author of Mezcal
LOUISIANA’S OLDEST BAR
My first memories of New Orleans were the graveyards we drove through to get downtown, and one of my first bar memories was visiting Lafitte’s, the oldest continuously operating bar in America, and how there were magical spirits inside its candlelit domain—along with ghost tours taking place in and around the bar while people drank Lafitte’s famous cocktail, the Obituary, a Martini spin made with gin and equal parts dry vermouth and absinthe. Its subtitle is “the highbrow of all lowbrow drinks.”
BAR SNACK
It’s a sub-masochistic treat to order a Ramos Gin Fizz at the Sazerac Room in New Orleans Roosevelt Hotel. One catches the small pain in the corner of the bartender’s eye as they politely nod in preparation for making the labor-intensive cocktail, much like the house staff in Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
LOUISIANA COCKTAIL BAR
Grab a Martini, Gin and Tonic, or the unforgettable French 75 cocktail that’s the bar’s namesake and embrace how much this place feels like drinking in a time capsule. To drink at Arnaud’s is to absorb a small fraction of New Orleans history, steeped in tradition.
LOUISIANA BUCKET LIST BAR
Whenever I am lucky enough to visit Erin Rose, the world immediately begins to relax, as it’s got the quintessential neighborhood bar feeling—a truly amazing accomplishment, given its proximity to Bourbon Street. A frozen Irish Coffee from Erin Rose is a don’t-miss experience of visiting New Orleans and strolling down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, as it’s not the place just everyone knows and goes, but rather, that special local spot warranting a pit stop to escape the madness of Bourbon Street, and life in general. My mouth is watering for that frozen Irish Coffee as I type these words. Damn it.
LOUISIANA BEVERAGE
Apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud’s was the first commercially produced bitters in America. Peychaud operated a pharmacy on Royal Street in the French Quarter and made the bitters in small quantities for New Orleans customers until manufacturing and selling nationally in 1840. Second to Angostura, it is the most common bitters on any bar throughout America, and it most certainly is on every bar in New Orleans, as having Peychaud’s nearby is a necessity when making a Sazerac cocktail.
SAZERAC
What’s a unique American drinking tradition? On Christmas Day in New Orleans, bartenders and bar regulars all meet in Jackson Square to drink mulled wine. Everyone brings a bottle of something to add to the mix, which Chris Hannah presides over.
—Brad Goocher, bar manager, Cane & Table (New Orleans)
The Sazerac is the official cocktail of New Orleans and goes down as one of the most important cocktails of all time. Sazerac sounds like it could be the next competitor to Amazon—it seems to be a reference to a high priestess, or a medieval golden amulet capable of eradicating whole villages, or someone with more money than God. In reality, it’s simply a delicious fucking cocktail. Last time I was in New Orleans, I ended up at the famous live music venue Tipitina’s, and the bartender offered us shots with our beers, and they said they would be happy to make Sazerac shots, and I said, “I love you.” Though the original gets mistaken for having Cognac or brandy, rye started the revolution in the 1890s. To see a good New Orleans bartender make one is to witness a little Vegas flair of showmanship, as they first roll the tumbler glass with absinthe by tossing the glass into the air, which we all appreciate, even if it looks like they might easily drop the glass. Still, I can’t help but be mesmerized by the theatrics. The Sazerac might go down in history as one of the most inconsistently made cocktails ever created, as I feel every bartender makes their own version, and has anywhere from two to fourteen dashes of Peychaud’s, but at least we can all sip on a little history together.
1 teaspoon absinthe
2½ ounces rye whiskey
¼ ounce simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Garnish: lemon twist
Roll the absinthe around a chilled Old Fashioned glass to coat the inside of the glass. Shake the remaining ingredients with ice until chilled; strain into the absinthe-rinsed glass and serve up, garnished with the lemon.
VIEUX CARRÉ
The Vieux Carré is a legendary New Orleans cocktail that people have either never heard of before or mispronounce. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the drink was created in the 1930s by Hotel Monteleone head bartender Walter Bergeron at the very special carousel bar, which slowly rotates as customers sit and sip away the day. This is a true French cocktail, celebrating the influence of France in Louisiana’s heritage, hence its name: Vieux Carré (“voo-kray”) means “French Quarter,” which is where the Hotel Monteleone is located in New Orleans. It’s boozy, yes, but oh so refreshing when served with the proper amount of ice.
1 ounce Cognac
1 ounce rye whiskey
1 ounce sweet vermouth
¼ ounce Bénédictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Garnish: lemon peel
Stir the ingredients with ice until chilled; strain into a chilled rocks glass with fresh ice and garnish with the lemon.
Local Prices. Local Chaos. Local Love.
—Erin Rose’s slogan (New Orleans)