Seelbach
Seven dashes of Angostura and seven of Peychaud’s. That reads like a typo — it isn’t. Bourbon, orange liqueur and Champagne carry the rest.
For twenty years this was celebrated as a lost hotel recipe from 1917. The real story’s better, and it’s further down the page.
Seelbach
Flute · None
Ingredients
- 1 ozBourbon
- ½ ozCointreau
- 7 dashesAngostura Bitters
- 7 dashesPeychaud's Bitters
- to topBrut Champagne
- garnishOrange twist
Method
- 1Combine bourbon, Cointreau, Angostura bitters, and Peychaud's bitters in a chilled flute.
- 2Stir briefly to integrate.
- 3Top slowly with cold brut champagne.
- 4Express an orange twist over the surface and drop it in.
History
For twenty years this circulated as a lost 1917 recipe from the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, rediscovered when a bartender found the formula in an old hotel file. In 2016 Adam Seger told Robert Simonson at the *New York Times* that he had invented the whole thing — drink and provenance — in 1995, because a good story sold better than a new cocktail. The drink outlived the hoax on merit.
Seven dashes each of two bitters is not a typo and not a rounding error; that quantity is the drink, and halving it produces something forgettable. Build it in the flute and add the sparkling wine last. Bourbon and Cointreau want to be cold before the champagne arrives, so chill the glass well.
