Whiskey Cocktails: Rye Whiskey
Rattlesnake
Ingredients
1.75 oz. Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey
3 dashes Pacifique Absinthe Verte Supérieure
0.75 oz. Fresh lemon juice
0.75 oz. Simple syrup
1 Egg white
Garnish
Lemon twist
Preparation
Separate the egg whites from the yolk and place the whites in a shaker. Build the rest of the ingredients in the opposite tin. Combine tins without ice and shake hard for fifteen seconds. Add ice and shake very hard. Fine strain into a coupe glass. Allow the meringue from the egg to rise to the top and set in a thick layer. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Cocktail Story
First appearing in Harry Craddock’s 1930 publication of the Savoy Cocktail Book, the Rattlesnake is essentially a classic rye whiskey sour with an added herbaceous kick thanks to a healthy dose of absinthe. This places its origin squarely in the improved category of cocktail, where an existing recipe was made more enticing by adding a fancy modifier, like absinthe, to the mix. The early-1900s ban on absinthe spread like wildfire throughout Europe and eventually hit American shores, resulting in a whole slew of cocktail recipes rendered obsolete before replacements like pastis and herbsaint came around. The Rattlesnake is just one example of many cocktails that failed to gain wide recognition during the golden age of the cocktail, in part due to the vast scale of the Savoy Cocktail Book. Fortunately, the reintroduction of absinthe to the American market circa 2007 ushered in a revived interest in forgotten absinthe cocktails. The Rattlesnake lives on as one of the most accessible absinthe-forward classics.