The Bywater, a cocktail that combines rye whiskey, dark rum, green Chartreuse, falernum, and Peychaud’s bitters, is a modern drink emblematic of New Orleans. Created in 2007 by bartender Chris Hannah while working at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar. The drink is a local take on the classic cocktail convention of stirred whiskey drinks named after New York City neighborhoods or boroughs, like the Red Hook, Brooklyn, and of course, the Manhattan.
The Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans is well known for its strong Caribbean influence. To represent that aspect of the city’s culture, Hannah split the base with dark rum and sweetened the drink with falernum, a Caribbean rum-based liqueur. The use of rye and Peychaud’s bitters hearkens back to the Sazerac, New Orleans’ biggest contribution to the classic cocktail canon.
Why the Bywater works
While the list of ingredients is longer, the Bywater is built on the same blueprint established by the Manhattan and expanded upon by the drink’s many borough-inspired variations.
The drink begins with a bold base of rye whiskey and dark rum, a combination that delivers peppery rye spice with the Caribbean warmth of dark, barrel-aged rum. The drink gets its sweetness from two liqueurs: green Chartreuse and falernum. The Chartreuse provides a botanical bouquet of herbal notes, while the falernum offers citrus and baking spice.
The drink is firmly grounded in New Orleans by the use of Peychaud’s bitters, which was produced in the city during the height of its cocktail culture. Peychaud’s notes of gentian and anise perfectly tie the drink together.
Dining and Cooking