Brandy Crusta
Cognac with dashes of bitters and lemon juice. A fresh, crisp version of the even older Bittered Sling.
The Brandy Crusta was created in New Orleans around 1850 by the Spanish caterer Joseph Santini. It is a complicated mix of cognac, bitters, curacao, and lemon juice. There are a couple of things that set this cocktail apart from others of the time. The first is the use of lemon juice as a flavour modifier, rather than as an ingredient. The lemon juice is used in a similar way to a bitters; to change and enhance the flavour of the cognac. The other unique characteristic is the crust of sugar around the rim of the glass. This is the first known cocktail to be served with a sugar rim, or any type of rim at all. It is first printed in Jerry Thomas in1862 and was considered a quintessential New Orleans drink.
Many people sight this tipple as the forefather to drinks like the Side Car and Margarita, however, both of those beverages use lemon as a full and complete flavour in the drink, not as a modifier for the dominant spirit. The Side Car and Margarita are more closely related to the Sour than the Crusta.
