Orange Is The New Cocktail — The Orange Satchmo

Satchmo (short for “satchel mouth”) is the nickname of the late great musical legend Louis Armstrong.  It’s also the name of our tuxedo cat. Neither of them has anything to do with the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. I learned about the Orange Satchmo in Benny Roff’s book Speakeasy.

The Orange Satchmo

2 ounces rye
.5 ounces triple sec
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Teaspoon of absinthe

Directions

Put the absinthe in a chilled glass and swirl it around so you coat the inside of the glass. Discard the remaining absinthe. Place the other ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, stir with the silky growl of Armstrong’s voice, and strain into the glass.  Orange twist garnish optional.

The Orange Satchmo is a variation of the Sazerac, the official cocktail of New Orleans (the city in which Armstrong and the Vieux Carre were born). The Orange Satchmo is smooth because of the triple sec, which is a general term for orange liqueurs, and fewer Peychaud’s bitters. If you want to increase the power, use my homemade arancello (orange liqueur) or sanguecello (blood orange liqueur) instead of triple sec.

I have a soft spot for Louis Armstrong’s music. Ms. Cocktail Den and I danced to his duet with Ella Fitzgerald (who also had a wonderfully unique voice) of “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” at our wedding. It’s a memory I will cherish forever.  Will the Orange Satchmo give you that sort of a fond memory? There’s one way to find out.