If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting New Orleans, you already know what a special place it is. Not only is it the birthplace of jazz music, it is also a melting pot of cocktail culture and culinary creativity — it should come as no surprise that so many classic cocktails were born here too. The city is steeped in cocktail history for the drink enthusiast to dive into, and you might need a tour guide just to get through it all. From the Sazerac and Brandy Crusta, to the Ramos Gin Fizz and the Hurricane, you can’t beat NOLA for its famous boozy creations. The addition of crisp cider adds “lagniappe” — a Creole word for “a little something extra” — to some of the best Bayou classics.
In Vieux Carré de Pomme, the post-Prohibition cocktail was created by bartender Walter Bergeron at New Orleans’ Carousel Bar & Lounge in the Hotel Monteleone. Refurbished to include Gypsy Circus Cider Co.‘s Puppet Master Marionette, a cider of 100 percent Tennessee apples aged for four months with Madagascar vanilla beans in Tennessee whiskey barrels, this big cider finds its match in the big cocktail.
You can serve this over a large ice cube or up in a martini glass. For a brighter alternative to the garnish below, try a wide orange peel, expressing the oils over the cocktail before serving.
Vieux Carré de Pomme
Makes 1 cocktail
¾ ounce rye whiskey
¾ ounce cognac
¾ ounce sweet red vermouth
¼ ounce Bénédictine
2 ounces Gypsy Circus Cider Co. Puppet Master Marionette
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Garnish: long green apple peel, fresh grated nutmeg
Fill an Old Fashioned glass three-quarters full with ice or one large ice cube. Measure in the spirits, cider and bitters. Stir swiftly for 20 seconds. Garnish.
This article originally ran in the Vol. 9 print edition of Cidercraft Magazine. For the full story and more like it, click here.
