The Once-Forgotten New Orleans French Quarter Cocktail That Made A 21st-Century Comeback

The city best known for Sazeracs and hurricanes is the birthplace of another cocktail — one that, until recently, was relatively forgotten. While hurricanes are a fixture of New Orleans' Bourbon Street and Sazeracs have become part of the American cocktail lexicon, the Vieux Carré, a cousin to the Sazerac, perhaps best encapsulates the culture of New Orleans. 

The cocktail was created by bartender Walter Bergeron in the late 1930s as an homage to the blend of cultural influences in the city at the time. The recipe first appeared in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em by Stanley Clisby Arthur in 1937. The cocktail features French cognac and Benedictine, Italian vermouth, American rye whiskey, Caribbean Angostura Bitters, and finally, Peychaud's bitters — which were created by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Haitian who settled in New Orleans in the late 1700s. The ingredients are stirred with ice until chilled, strained into a rocks glass, and then garnished with a cherry and or a lemon twist.

The Vieux Carré, which is French for "the Old Square," as New Orleans' French Quarter was once known, was originally served at the Swan Room in the Hotel Monteleone where artists like Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote have ordered a few drinks. Now, that bar has been reimagined as the Carousel Bar, where, yes, the bar seats are attached to a working carousel. Those seats make a full revolution once every 15 minutes, so you won't get dizzy — unless you've had too many cocktails.

The Vieux Carré is a strong yet smooth cocktail with botanical notes and a hint of sweetness. It's similar to an old fashioned, but with a deeper herbal complexity. Jason Kraft, the Beverage Director of Roberta's, told Tasting Table, "It has that rich flavor and texture you crave with an old fashioned with a deeper, woodier complexity and a silkier, fuller mouthfeel."

The Vieux Carré was invented nearly 100 years after the Sazerac and never quite matched its level of popularity. The Louisiana House of Representatives named the Sazerac New Orleans' signature cocktail in 2008, while the Vieux Carré could only be found in vintage cocktail books and in traditional cocktail bars.

But what is old is new again, and vintage cocktails made for sipping in dark rooms are once again in the spotlight. Cocktail influencer Kevin Kos calls the Vieux Carré one of his favorite cocktails. "It's a balanced and easy-to-drink spirit-forward cocktail," he says on his blog. And a post in r/Cocktails from a month ago features the Vieux Carré, with one enthusiast calling it "the perfect representation of New Orleans in a glass." 

If you want to try a Vieux Carré the next time you're in NOLA, head to its birthplace, the Carousel Bar, which is one of the best bars in New Orleans. Other bars cocktail enthusiasts recommend are Patrick's Bar Vin, 21st Amendment Bar, and Bar Tonique.