Step inside Nevada’s Sazerac saloons of yore.
On a culinary-inspired trip to New Orleans, I first encountered the powerful and historic drink called the Sazerac, at the aptly named Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. The memory lingered, and I discovered, to my surprise, that Nevada had numerous connections to this cocktail — or, at least, to its name, which appeared in almost a dozen saloons in Northern Nevada’s early days.
The Sazerac is a New Orleans variation of a whiskey cocktail. It’s named for the Sazerac de Forge & Fils brand of Cognac, which originally served as its main ingredient. Traditionally, the cocktail is a combination of Cognac, absinthe, Peychaud’s bitters, and sugar. In its many variations, rye or bourbon whiskey is sometimes substituted for the Cognac, and Herbsaint, an anise-flavored liqueur, can replace the absinthe.
It was a classy drink, comprised of expensive, imported ingredients. For the miners and speculators who were Nevada’s early residents, nothing was too good, and the Sazerac fit the bill. The money earned on the Comstock and other mining towns meant people were eager for a taste of luxury. Instead of the rotgut liquor from unmarked bottles swilled by those looking only to get drunk, not to enjoy their drinks, pioneer Nevadans sought quality — and it was well represented by the French Sazerac made with Cognac. Sazerac Saloons (sometimes spelled Sazarac) popped up in Dayton, Wellington, Yerington, and Hawthorne. Carson City had a long history of using the name, and at one point there even was an “old” and a “new” type of Sazerac Saloon. Per Eureka Daily Sentinel (Nov. 4, 1873), as early as 1873, Eureka’s Sazarac had a “chops stand” with “every delicacy … fresh oysters, wild game, chickens, turkeys, pigs’ feet, sheep’s tongue, and the choicest beef steaks, dished up in a tempting style.”
Virginia City and Austin
Two notable Nevada Sazerac Saloons were in Virginia City and Austin. I first was alerted to Virginia City’s famous watering hole through an old photograph — and my research began.
Effie Mona Mack said in her book, Mark Twain in Nevada, “The Sazerac was the headquarters for everything that went on in Virginia City.” Tom Peasley, described as a giant of a man, operated the saloon and was involved in every level of civic leadership, including chief of the fire department. Virginia City’s Sazerac Saloon moved along C Street several times. In 1940, as the town was preparing for the world premiere of the film Virginia City, starring Erroll Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, bricks crashed down, causing the famous saloon to collapse. Ironically, Sazerac Saloon was prominently depicted in the Warner Bros. picture. Sazerac’s last location was in the building that held the former Agency of the Bank of California, which is now home to the Ponderosa Saloon.
The Sazerac Saloon in Austin became famous for another reason: It was the perfect setting for telling tall tales. In 1873, Fred H. Hart was employed by the Reese River Reveille as an editor but found that news was sparse. So, engaging in the tradition of literary hoax famously used by Mark Twain, Dan DeQuille, and others, he uncovered a bounty of stories sitting at the Sazerac. Local miners, ranchers, and stage drivers would gather to tell of their adventures, exaggerating at will. Hart began capturing these tales, and the Sazerac Lying Club was born. In 1878, Hart collected these yarns and published the book of the same name, The Sazerac Lying Club. It became an instant classic, inspiring three printings in its first year — and is still available.
Hart may have had difficulties filling his newspapers with stories, but modern research about Sazerac Saloons yielded rich accounts. They paint a colorful picture of life in the Nevada landscape. Fights, shootings, fires, renovations, and changes of ownership were part of the history of these establishments. As Mark Twain wrote in Roughing It, “To be a saloon keeper and to kill a man was to be illustrious.” Even without murder, the saloon was central to early Nevada life, and the Sazeracs, perhaps, were the most colorful of all.
The Sazerac
The Sazerac is recognized by the International Bartenders Association (IBA) as one of its most requested cocktail recipes. The IBA classifies it in the Unforgettable category. Since 2008, Louisiana has proclaimed the Sazerac New Orleans’ official cocktail. Nevadans who enjoy Picon punch would be right at home with this drink.
The defining feature of the Sazerac is its method of preparation, which commonly involves two chilled old fashioned glasses. Various anisettes, such as pastis, Pernod, or Herbsaint, are common substitutes when absinthe is unavailable. Sazerac also is a brand of rye whiskey produced by the Sazerac Co. Many recipes now substitute bourbon or rye for the Cognac.
1.7 ounces Cognac
.034 ounce absinthe
1 sugar cube
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Pour a small amount of absinthe or other anisette in a chilled old fashioned glass to rinse glass, then add crushed ice and set aside. Stir the other ingredients with ice in a separate mixing glass. Discard ice and excess absinthe from the first glass, then strain Cognac mixture into absinthe-lined glass. The drink is served straight up, with no ice.
