night people

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
3/4 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass pre-rinsed with Herbsaint, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Thursdays ago, I delved back into T. Cole Newton's Cocktail Dive Bar book to make another one of his Sazerac variations called the Night People. Cole created this recipe for a local magazine in honor of Allen Toussaint, and he named it after one of the artist's songs. As a play on Toussaint, he utilized two saints -- St. Germain and Herbsaint. Overall, the recipe minus the Sazerac treatment reminded me of the Citizen's Ideal Manhattan.The Night People entered in with a lemon, black licorice, and floral aroma. Next, grape and apricot notes on the sip wandered into rye, grape, and grapefruit flavors on the swallow with a clove and anise finish.