A to Z Blog Challenge 2021 Cocktails A to Z From the letter S

Good morning. Welcome back. It’s hard believe that most of the month of April is over already. Wish I could say the same about the Pandemic. Have you ever been to New Orleans? A few years ago, I’d planned to go there, but a nasty little storm named Katrina changed my plans. I had a friend who lived in the area. His home was all but destroyed, but he bounced back. Sadly, he’s gone now, but I remember him telling me that if I did decide to visit the city, I should carry chalk to make it easier for the police to outline my body when they found it. He had a wry sense of humor.

Here’s a little history I’ll bet you didn’t know. In 2008, the Louisiana House of Representatives made a historic decision. In a 62-33 vote, legislators proclaimed the Sazerac — the famed mix of rye whiskey, bitters and absinthe that originated in the bayou — New Orleans’ official cocktail.

The drink’s origins date back to the 1830s, when a Creole apothecary named Antoine Peychaud concocted a potent recipe at his pharmacy in the French Quarter. Peychaud combined his family’s secret recipe for bitters with cognac and began serving the drink to friends.

Although the Sazerac can be found across New Orleans’ drinking establishments, Peychaud’s bitters remain the key to creating this iconic cocktail.

NPR’s Robert Siegel prepares a Sazerac under the strict guidance of Lu Brow, bar chef at the Swizzle Stick Bar in downtown New Orleans. Brow calls the Sazerac a “wonderful, complex” cocktail and adds, “If ever there was a city that deserved an official drink, it was New Orleans.” (NPR)

And so today, the letter S brings you the official drink of New Orleans, the Sazerac! Now, just because I haven’t been to New Orleans doesn’t mean I haven’t researched it. In fact, New Orleans is the setting for my paranormal series, The Punishers. It was always my dad’s dream to help me write a book. He had his heart set on something involving vampires and shapeshifters, but he loved my police procedural suspense novels. Hence, the Punishers, a group of preternatural crime fighters who keep both the underworld and the overworld of New Orleans safe.

Make it Your Own

Ingredients

Absinthe, to rinse
2 ounces cognac (Can use Rye whiskey if you prefer)
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Mix it

Pour the absinthe into a rocks glass and swirl to coat the inside. Discard any excess. Fill the glass with ice to chill.

Combine the cognac, simple syrup and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Cover and shake vigorously.

Discard the ice from the glass and strain the shaker mixture into the glass.

Rub the rim of the glass with the lemon twist, add to the drink and serve immediately.

When I get to New Orleans, you can be sure I’ll have a Sazerac!

Now, here’s a look at The Punishers, Book One, The Tigress

Paranormal Detective Ellie Taggart, a rakshasa capable of assuming the shape of a tigress, has always worked alone, searching for those responsible for her mother’s murder. When an investigation results in the death of a close friend and vampire, she’s forced to partner with handsome and mysterious peredhil, Steve Cassidy.
Like her, the half-human, half-elf uses his special talents to fight evil wherever it exists. Rogue vampires, shapeshifters, zombies, practitioners of black magic, poltergeists, ghosts—none of them can beat him. That is until someone or something no longer plays by the rules. There’s a new villain in New Orleans, one who threatens both the humans and non-humans who make the city home.
Is the enemy Draug, the wizard who murdered Ellie’s mother centuries ago? Is it someone from Steve’s shrouded past intent on revenge? Or are they facing a new enemy with an agenda all his or her own? As the tigress and her partner search for answers, trying to prevent the bodies from piling up, they have to manage conflicting emotions and desires that threaten to overwhelm them. Can two such different creatures of the light join forces to defeat the darkness, or will the powers of evil triumph?