The New Orleans drink that’s back from the dead

By Matt Haines The New York Times Sparse cities do spooky like New Orleans Mix Anne Rice s vampires aboveground burials and a tradition of jazz funerals and you get a city undaunted by death Mix gin vermouth and absinthe and you get a martini-like cocktail that is equally bold the Obituary Dating back at least years the Obituary has slipped in and out of fashion without ever staying dead But with martinis experiencing a renaissance of their own its time seems to have come again Martinis are so popular across the country right now commented Neal Bodenheimer the owner of the James Beard award-winning cocktail bar Cure But at the same time our locals and tourists gravitate to things that feel uniquely New Orleanian And that dash of anise-forward absinthe is definitely New Orleanian The absinthe creates a flavor profile cocktail lovers expect from countless of our city s drinks Bodenheimer added just like the absinthe in a Sazerac or the Peychaud s bitters in a Vieux Carr But the Obituary s greatest appeal may be its name That s what drew Sue Strachan the author of The Obituary Cocktail LSU Press to the drink as a prospective subject My first question was what could possibly be in a drink named after a death notice Strachan explained It must be strong Her book covers the story of the cocktail likely invented in the French Quarter at the bar Caf Lafitte named for an infamous th-century pirate and opened by a trio of bons vivants in the same year Prohibition was repealed In the passage guide The Bachelor in New Orleans by Robert Kinney the Obituary is mentioned as one of two signature drinks at Caf Lafitte Later that decade in a columnist for the now-defunct New Orleans Item-Tribune noted that Tom Caplinger the bar s owner had invented the Obituary and offered up these instructions add a drop of absinthe to a Manhattan or a Martini and it becomes an Obituary The bar attracted a bohemian crowd including playwright Tennessee Williams sculptor Enrique Alf rez and restaurateur Ella Brennan It was a gathering place for the late-night artsy crowd Brennan advised the Times-Picayune in The the greater part attractive people in the world talking about the the bulk gripping things The bar is widely held to be America s oldest continuously open gay bar though it moved one block in to its current home Caf Lafitte s in Exile where the Obituary is still on the menu Such a worldly and connected clientele Strachan believes could explain how the owners were able to procure absinthe for its Obituary even though the wormwood spirit remained illegal in the United States until By the s and s the Obituary like plenty of classic cocktails had lost popularity among a generation who rebelled against the drinks of their parents preferring sweeter concoctions like the Long Island Iced Tea and Slippery Nipple Ultimately it was the Obituary s name that once again saved it from obscurity In author Kerri Nicole McCaffrey published a collection of photographic essays about the city s bars entitled Obituary Cocktail The Great Saloons of New Orleans Dorian Bennett a local real estate agent received the book as a gift that same year and suggested to his friends that they visit each of the featured bars On Fridays they would check off another bar in the book and even have people at the bar sign it like a yearbook commented Arlene Karcher a retired art consultant She is now the unofficial leader of the group which has taken the name the Grande and Secret Order of Obituary Cocktail Related Articles Recipe Roasted pears exude the taste of autumn Recipe Kids can help make these tasty Halloween mini cupcakes Five Weeknight Dishes Kids love this cheesy gnocchi with corn and pesto quick easy pasta recipes you should memorize Quick Fix Moroccan Chicken Once members of the original group finished visiting each of the bars in McCaffrey s book they shifted their attention to other drinking establishments in the city Twenty-six years later between and members still gather at a new drinking hole in New Orleans every Friday It s funny I think most of members don t even realize our club s name has anything to do with an actual cocktail Karcher disclosed They just know it s the name of a book and that our club name sounds mysterious and dangerous fun because I think our average age is -something Although participants in the Grande and Secret Order might not be totally committed to the Obituary it is regaining its foothold James O Donnell the bar manager at Fives Bar in the French Quarter revealed an increasing number of cocktail lovers and bar professionals are rediscovering the drink which he calls a gateway absinthe drink O Donnell balances his own recipe with a weighty gin and a full-bodied vermouth to produce a cocktail that s both boozy and complex All that still comes secondary to the name The name is why several of our customers first order it and why the drink has staying power O Donnell revealed Well that and the idea that if you have two or three of these cocktails someone will be writing your obituary before the night is over RECIPE Obituary Named in a similar morbid spirit as the Corpse Reviver and Death in the Afternoon this New Orleans-born absinthe-laced twist on a gin martini is best served very cold in a very cold glass If you can t find absinthe use pastis in its place to approximate the spirit s herbal anise notes By Rebekah Peppler Yield drink Ingredients Ice ounces dry gin ounce dry vermouth Scant ounce absinthe lemon peel for serving Preparation Freeze a martini or Nick and Nora glass for at least minutes and up to hour You can also fill the glass with ice and water stir for seconds pour out the ice and water and pour the finished drink into the now-chilled glass In a cocktail shaker or mixing glass filled with ice combine the gin vermouth and absinthe Stir until very cold about seconds then strain into the chilled glass Hold the lemon peel by its long edges skin facing down into the glass pinch the peel to release the citrus oils then discard the lemon peel This article originally appeared in The New York Times Subscribe to our weekly newsletter In The Know to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox