Drinking Our Way Through New Orleans’ French Quarter

Earlier this year I wrote a post in my One Card, One Trip series about a long weekend getaway to New Orleans, and last weekend my wife and I replicated that trip. I’ll write a review of the Hyatt Centric French Quarter soon, but in this post I’ll cover our self-created walking tour to drink your way through the French Quarter. New Orleans has a rich cultural and culinary history and that is definitely true of cocktails as well!

Coterie

This is often our first stop when we arrive in NOLA because it is a few blocks away from the Hyatt Centric and is a great spot for lunch. That was our purpose on this trip too, but in the name of “research”, of course we had to try a few cocktails as well. I had a Hurricane and my wife tried the Painkiller. Overall, they were just okay. The Painkiller was a little thin – usually the coconut creme gives it a nice texture and foamy top. The Hurricane was good but perhaps a little bit on the fruit juice side of things. That is similar at places like Pat O’Brien’s piano bar. I am not a fan of their Hurricane either, despite its fame and popularity. I prefer the more original version with lemon juice and passion fruit syrup.

Sazerac Bar

Our next stop was just across Canal Street, the Sazerac Bar inside the beautiful The Roosevelt hotel which is a Waldorf Astoria property. It has a very cool 1920’s opulent vibe with lots of gold chandeliers mixed with art deco design and really feels like you are stepping back in time. Inside, the Sazerac Bar feels upscale without being stuffy or pretentious. Since this is the current home of the Sazerac (perhaps my wife’s favorite whiskey cocktail), of course we had to try a few versions. We tried the original and the Coffee House Sazerac, an homage to the original Sazerac House coffee house (a k a bar in the 1850’s) location, a place to both socialize and to get these drinks with medicinal bitters such as Peychaud’s.

The coffee-infused rye whiskey, cognac and coffee liqueur was a great combo, and we would both recommend that over the original. After those, we wanted to try one other classic cocktail and settled on the Corpse Reviver #2, a well-balanced gin drink.

Manolito

After walking down Royal Street to the other end of the French Quarter we popped into Manolito, a cute little Cuban restaurant known for their blended daiquiris. While we didn’t go for a daiquiri, of course we had to try some rum drinks since NOLA has just as big a history with rum as it does with whiskey.

We tried a Mary Pickford and an Airmail. Both drinks were very good and in the Airmail, the bold Jamaican rum mixed nicely with the bubbles from the cava and sweetness of the honey.

Atchafalaya

This was our dinner stop on Friday night and the only stop not in the French Quarter. Near Magazine Street and Garden District, this was a cute little restaurant with great service and very tasty food. For drinks, we tried their Duck Fat washed Sazerac and one of their own cocktails called the Belle of the Barrel which was almost like a bourbon-based take on a mai tai. Both were great and a nice warmup for our meal.

Carousel Bar (Hotel

Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar

Next up was the Carousel Bar inside the historic Hotel Monteleone. While we could not get seats at the bar itself, which actually slowly rotates like a carousel, there is plenty of other seating and we had great service. We started with another New Orleans cocktail, the Vieux Carre (“Old Square” in French, referring to the French Quarter) and a Sazerac. We asked them to go light on the simple syrup in the Sazerac, and it turned out great, the best of this trip. Later we tried a rum and cognac-based drink with chocolate bitters called a Saddleback which was very well balanced and tasty.

Old Absinthe House

Moving on Bourbon Street itself, our next stop was the Old Absinthe House. My wife tried an absinthe drink, the Death at Dusk which also had creme de violette and sparking wine and I tried their Planter’s Punch.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop

Making our way to the other end of Bourbon Street we had to stop in at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, one of the oldest buildings in the city. Supposedly once owned by pirate, er, privateer Jean Lafitte, it’s definitely worth checking out. Just be careful with the “Purple Drank” Voodoo Daquiri, a secret recipe that tastes like grape Kool-Aid and Everclear. It’s cold and refreshing on a hot day, and goes down way too easily.

Double Dealer speakeasy

After a dinner to live jazz on Frenchman Street, we headed back near to the hotel to check out the Double Dealer, which was a recommendation from one of the bartenders at the Sazerac Bar across the street. Located underneath the historic Orpheum Theatre, this was a very cool location with live music, and definitely worth checking out. Note there is a dress code – collared shirts for men – but khaki shorts were no problem.

Their menu featured an extensive list of prohibition-era cocktails, modern classics, and even some of their own inventive house recipes. We tried a classic Brandy Crusta and two of their originals, the San Cristobal and the Golden Hour. All three were great and the bartenders were super friendly.

Bar Tonique

On our final day, we had to check out Bar Tonique, which was the first freestanding craft cocktail bar in the city. Located across Rampart Street from Armstrong Park, this place is definitely a dive with a cool vibe, fresh ingredients, good prices, and friendly service. To start my wife had a French 75 with cognac and I had their $6 daily special, a Mai Tai. After a chat with the bartender about some of their homemade syrups, it was time for the main event, a Ramos Gin Fizz.

This is another late 1800’s classic NOLA cocktail with quite a history including stories of teams of 20-30 bartenders just to shake these as they take quite a long time to make. To emulsify the cream and egg white requires a long dry shake, then a trip to the freezer followed by a bit of soda water on top raises a creamy foam meringue top above the glass. Definitely do not order this drink when the bar is busy! Ours was great; light, creamy, citrusy, with some floral hints from the gin. My wife is not a big fan of gin drinks but we both really enjoyed this one.

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House

We stopped here for lunch as it was right next to the hotel. They have a very extensive list of bourbons available. We tried the Coffee Old Fashioned and a Paper Plane. The drinks were just okay, but we had a fantastic muffaletta flatbread.

Sazerac House museum

This was our final stop before heading back to the airport, and our second ever trip to the Sazerac House. I would highly recommend checking this place out. It was an old Canal Street warehouse that went through a $60M renovation and reopened in 2019 as a museum that covers much of the cocktail history of New Orleans as well as all of the Sazerac company products which covers many popular brands. The self-guided (and free!) tour is really cool and includes some drink samples. They also sell many of their products in the gift shop that can be sometimes hard to find, such as Eagle Rare 10 year for $47 on the day of our visit.

This time, we did the whiskey grid tasting class and got to learn a lot about the history of bourbon, manufacturing processes, and what makes them similar or different. Andrew, who led the class, was very engaging, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about his job. We sampled several high end bourbons from their portfolio such as Buffalo Tract, Eagle Rare, and EH Taylor, and got to bring home a set of mini Glencairn glasses for tasting in the future.

What about you – have you been to New Orleans and if so, what was your favorite spot to get a tasty drink?

TL;DR: New Orleans has a great history when it comes to cocktails, and many great options to try throughout the city. It was fun to try a few different versions of the classics we love, and also some local creations.