On one of our vacation days, John wanted to hit up Harrah’s casino, which left me to my own devices in New Orleans. Not far from the casino was a newly renovated building called Sazerac House.

The building itself is from around 1800 and the Sazerac company purchased it a couple of years ago to become a centerpiece of their business. Sazerac is a rye distiller first and foremost, although they do rum, Southern Comfort along with a few other alcohols and also bitters.

The building opened up to the public last October and it is gorgeous inside! They have a free tour that you can take. Obviously the point is to introduce you to their products and get you to purchase, but it was really an enjoyable tour about the rise of the cocktail in New Orleans.

The bitters sampling room:

They actually make the Peychaud’s Bitters on site. Bitters are basically herbs soaked in alcohol, which becomes super concentrated. We sampled a drop on the back of our hands, which was all you needed – bitters are potent!

Brewing tanks:

It takes 10 days to make a batch of bitters, so each tank on this wheel is one day and they can be in constant productions.

Fun vintage displays throughout:

This was an interactive display where you could step up to one of those tables and learn about cocktails and how they were part of the nighttime life in New Orleans.

You will note there were not many people in the building. I went just after lunch and hit a sweet time where hardly any people were touring when I was, so I got to ask lots of questions and get personal attention from the various guides along the way. Yay! At this table, you pick a coaster, drop it on the table and information pops up on the table:

That’s all a touch screen and you can flip through the paper and stuff. There are 3 different coasters (the hexagon) and each one gives you a different interactive experience.

There were 3 samples during the tour. One was rum.

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Only the bottom barrels are filled and tapped as they are too heavy when filled for the top two tiers. They found that out after the fact LOL! I don’t drink spirits straight, so I wasn’t crazy about the rum on it’s own. I do like it in mixed drinks, though.

There was a virtual bartender where you sat and chose a drink and he would mix it for you. There were 4 different bars to choose from: a dive bar, an upscale French quarter bar, a tropical bar and a modern one. I chose the New Orleans one.

I had him make me a Sazerac. After this was the actual tasting of the Sazerac. The Sazerac cocktail was born in New Orleans and consists of:

• 1.5 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey
• 1 sugar cube
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• .25 oz Herbsaint
• Lemon twist

First the bitters and sugar cube are crushed and muddled in a glass, then the whiskey is added. A separate glass is coated with the Herbsaint (best done with a mister) and the whiskey mixture is added. Then the lemon twist is squeezed over the cocktail. Kind of a complex cocktail. First notes are lemon and licorice (the Herbsaint) and then the herbs and warmth from the whiskey. I actually kind of liked this drink. I tend to like my mixed drinks on the sweeter side and this was just slightly sweet. The samples were a small cup, pretty much the size of a little white paper ketchup cup at a takeout restaurant. So maybe an ounce if that.

Then the bourbon distillery part:

They actually make bourbon in this location but it has to be sent to Kentucky for aging as New Orleans doesn’t get cold enough during the aging process to properly pull out the charred wood characteristics in bourbon.

The building is really gorgeous and beautifully restored as well. I loved the wall of spirits:

Two floors tall. At the end of the tour like any good theme park ride, it dumps you out into the gift shop LOL! There you can purchase the different products they have or other non-alcohol merchandise. Overall an informative and interesting tour. Plus it’s free – so you can’t beat that!