It’s difficult to think about the month of February without summoning romantic memories or without perhaps considering the awkwardly introspective question, “Are we serious enough to go out on a date for Valentine’s Day?” Thankfully, I’ve been happily paired up for over a decade and am past the over-the-top Valentine’s Days and early relationship oddities. Not that we aren’t romantic — we just choose to wait until Valentine’s to show it. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. Regardless, the holiday I tend to think of when February rolls around is Mardi Gras!
Yes, I know sometimes it arrives in March, but not this year. This year it is February 16, just a couple days after Valentine’s. And I’m going to help you get ready! I know what you are thinking: “I’m all good on the Bourbon Street debauchery, Hurricanes, and Hand Grenades. I don’t need that hangover in my life.” I’m with y’all. I’m talking about some NOLA classic cocktails, here. The historical (and thankfully present) drinking culture in the Big Easy is amazing. From classic cocktails to the first bottled cocktails to original ingredients, the NOLA scene has been on the forefront for quite a while. As a connoisseur of all things cocktail, I can’t get enough of the New Orleans classics. Sazeracs. Ramos Gin Fizzes. Brandy Milk Punches. De La Louisianes. I love them all. My favorite is none other than the Vieux Carré. Pronounced voo-car-ay (unless you are actually French). It is the perfect cocktail. Strong enough to smack you in the face, sweet enough to entice that next sip, and the perfect amount of bitters to tie it all together.
Vieux Carré:
- 1 oz cognac
- 1 oz rye whiskey
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 1/4 oz Benedictine
- 4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Add everything to a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a cocktail glass or rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.
At its most basic level, the Vieux Carré is a variation of the Manhattan. Give the recipe another look. 2 oz of spirit, 1 oz of vermouth and bitters. It’s a Manhattan with a bit of the honeyed and herbaceous Benedictine slipped in there. Hopefully, y’all went out and picked up a bottle of Benedictine to make the Rob Roy last month. No? Feel free to omit it and make yourself a Saratoga cocktail, which dates back to the 1880s, and marvel at your adaptability.
The Vieux Carré (French for “old square”) was originally mixed in the place it was named after, the French Quarter. It was crafted in the 1930s by Walter Bergeron in the bar at the Hotel Monteleone. It is an absolutely gorgeous hotel, but the biggest draw (at least for me) is not the architecture. There is something special about the bar itself. It goes by the name “Carousel Bar” because the bar is an actual carousel. The circular bar rotates one full revolution every 15 minutes, and it is absolutely a blast to sit at it while having a drink, perhaps even a Vieux Carré. Next time you find yourself in the French Quarter, plan a stop by the Carousel Bar and check it out. The cocktails are absolutely adequate, but the carousel is awesome. The best part is when they swap out the bartender, who literally has to crawl over the bar to get in or out. Get there early, as it tends to fill up. Just don’t fall off!
