Panel says, again, Sazerac is state cocktail
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Nearing final approval in the Legislature, a measure to designate the Sazerac as the official cocktail of New Orleans was changed Thursday to make it the state’s signature spirit.
Senate Bill 6 was originally written to make the Sazerac the official state cocktail but did not pass the Senate. The measure was only approved when it was amended on the Senate floor to apply only to the drink’s home city of New Orleans.
Members of the House Committee on Judiciary voted 8-3 to amend the bill back to its original state, attempting to again make it the state cocktail.
State Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans and chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, handled Senate Bill 6 for its sponsor and fellow New Orleans Democrat, Sen. Edwin Murray.
“Sometimes, the Senate, they’ll make mistakes,” Richmond told committee members. “And sometimes we need to help them see the light.”
Richmond said there will still be time to make changes on the Senate floor or in a conference committee if there is another conflict.
Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, expanded on the history of the drink, saying it is widely considered the first cocktail invented in the nation.
The Sazerac, Leger said, was created by a pharmacist who moved to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter in the early 1800s. The drink “has specific historic significance to our culture in Louisiana and, specifically, to the culture that developed in New Orleans in the early 1800s,” he said.
Richmond told the committee he had not yet tasted a Sazerac, adding that he didn’t want anyone to draw conclusions between him having the drink and then advocating the bill.
“But if it passes, I promise I will try it,” he said.
Rep. Patrick Connick, R-Harvey, joked that he was going to offer an amendment to add the Lucky Dog as the state weenie. He said another legislator asked him not to.
Senate Bill 6 was originally written to make the Sazerac the official state cocktail but did not pass the Senate. The measure was only approved when it was amended on the Senate floor to apply only to the drink’s home city of New Orleans.
Members of the House Committee on Judiciary voted 8-3 to amend the bill back to its original state, attempting to again make it the state cocktail.
State Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans and chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, handled Senate Bill 6 for its sponsor and fellow New Orleans Democrat, Sen. Edwin Murray.
“Sometimes, the Senate, they’ll make mistakes,” Richmond told committee members. “And sometimes we need to help them see the light.”
Richmond said there will still be time to make changes on the Senate floor or in a conference committee if there is another conflict.
Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, expanded on the history of the drink, saying it is widely considered the first cocktail invented in the nation.
The Sazerac, Leger said, was created by a pharmacist who moved to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter in the early 1800s. The drink “has specific historic significance to our culture in Louisiana and, specifically, to the culture that developed in New Orleans in the early 1800s,” he said.
Richmond told the committee he had not yet tasted a Sazerac, adding that he didn’t want anyone to draw conclusions between him having the drink and then advocating the bill.
“But if it passes, I promise I will try it,” he said.
Rep. Patrick Connick, R-Harvey, joked that he was going to offer an amendment to add the Lucky Dog as the state weenie. He said another legislator asked him not to.
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