It’s Mardi Gras y’all! Happy Fat Tuesday to all y’all and to all y’all about to get into that Lent Lyfe, I say, “good luck!”

I love Mardi Gras because my mom’s side of the family is from Mississippi, I lived in Alabama for 10 years and I love wild parties. I had a great decade living in the South, great food, great friends, many many huge parties. I was a fairly busy DJ while I lived in BHM, and so most anything Southern reminds me of the good times. Nostalgia!

If you read that post I wrote for a Negroniac, you know I have a THING for Sazeracs and their variations. For this Mardi Gras’ Sazerac, I was inspired by the 18.21 Spicy Creole Bitters. These bitters are straight Tony Chachere’s! Mamoo used to cook with these spices all the time growin’ up! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the 18.21 Spicy Cajun Bitters are like a firey infusion of Cajun Spices in a bottle of bitters. Perfect for a bayou Sazerac variation.

Creole Sazerac

• 2 oz Rye
• 1/2 oz Campari
• 1/4 oz St George Absinthe Verte
• 2 dashes 18.21 Bitters Spicy Creole Bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• Barspoon Turbinado Sugar
• 1/4 oz Water
• Garnish: Orange Peel

Combine ingredients and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add ice and stir again until drink has chilled. Strain into chilled rocks glass. Express Orange Peel and garnish (or don’t garnish, it is a Sazerac and therefore up to you).

*Note: In this variation, I felt the Campari would play well with the Creole bitters. I also felt that Peychaud’s would not stand up to Campari quite like Angostura does. I did not follow the traditional Sazerac formula of two glass mixing and therefore the 1/4 oz of Water is crucial.

Thanks again to 18.21 for the Spicy Creole Bitters!