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Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez!! Drinking is fun in New Orleans all year long but especially during Mardi Gras. Get the recipes for 12 Mardi Gras drinks that get the party started anywhere and any time you’re ready to ‘let the good times roll.’
Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a party like no other.
Multi-colored necklaces fly from the air as floats roll down the city’s historic streets. Awash in purple, green and gold, the city embraces the party atmosphere with a vengeance. And not just for one day.
For weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday, NOLA locals add king cakes filled with little porcelain babies to their diets already filled with po boys and other NOLA food favorites. They also drink a lot of cocktails.
Don’t feel bad if you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras in person. Instead, cook up a pot of jambalaya in your corner of the world and get the annual party started by crafting a Mardi Gras drink or two.
With ingredients like dark rum, white rum, passionfruit syrup and lemon juice, this fruity, boozy cocktail is dangerously easy to drink. Love it or hate it, the Hurricane is so iconic that it has its own glass.
A complex cocktail that's simultaneously strong, spicy and sweet, the Sazerac is more than a popular cocktail invented in the Crescent City. According to the Louisiana legislature, it's also the official drink of New Orleans.
Relatively low in alcohol, the Grasshopper is creamy, chocolaty and minty. Plus, it's green. If you enjoy American candies like Andes Mints and Peppermint Patties, then this is the drink for you.
Originally called a New Orleans Fizz, the Ramos Gin Fizz is cocktail royalty in the Louisiana city where the good times roll all year long but especially during Mardi Gras.
If you thought that the Grasshopper was the only green cocktail invented in New Orleans, you would be wrong. Invented by Cayetano Ferrer at The Old Absinthe House in 1874, the Absinthe Frappé is as green as it is potent.
Walter Bergeron was clearly a big fan of the Manhattan when he crafted the original Vieux Carré almost a century ago. After all, this New Orleans drink is basically a Manhattan with a couple extra ingredients. It's also delicious.
Named after it's main ingredient and its crunchy, sugary rim, the Brandy Crusta is a timeless New Orleans cocktail. It's also sweet, sour and sophisticated.
The French 75 is one of the most most sophisticated cocktails to sip on Bourbon Street. After you drink one in New Orleans, you'll want to drink the sophisticated sipper all year long at home.
The Pimm's Cup wasn't invented in New Orleans but this London drink fits seamlessly into the city's cocktail culture. Neither new nor trendy, the gin-based cocktail has been a NOLA fixture since it debuted at the Napoleon House in the 1940s.
Invented in Virginia and made famous in Kentucky, the Mint Julep fits the New Orleans lifestyle to a tee. Chilled under a dome of crushed ice that resembles a snowball, this bourbon cocktail stays cold even on hot days. And, when it comes to adding bourbon to a New Orleans Mint Julep, two shots are always better than one.
The creamy Milk Punch just has a handful of simple ingredients – brandy or bourbon, milk, nutmeg, sugar and vanilla extract. But there's nothing simple about the happiness we've achieved while sipping the classic New Orleans cocktail at bars like Tujague’s or during breakfast at Brennan's.
The La Louisiane is a classic cocktail that lives under the radar despite its fabulous flavor. Give it a try and find out if the potent potable ranks as your favorite New Orleans cocktail.
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Funding We purchased the ingredients and tools used to craft these cocktails.
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Daryl and Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on their website 2foodtrippers. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers a unique taste of the world.
