The Sazerac is a perfect cocktail. This New Orleans staple is made from a few basic ingredients: rye whiskey, sugar, Peychaud's bitters, and absinthe. But despite using the strong, anise-flavored liquor, the drink hardly tastes like an absinthe cocktail. The green fairy only appears as a gentle whisper beckoning behind the rye and bitters.

This effect is achieved by rinsing the cocktail glass with absinthe, pouring a small amount into the glass, swirling it around, and then dumping the rest out. Rinses are typically called for when you want an ingredient with a strong flavor, such as absinthe, to lightly flavor your cocktail without overpowering it. The Sazerac is the most famous example of a drink that uses this technique, but intensely flavored liquors like Campari, Chartreuse, or Fernet are also used in various cocktails. You can even rinse a dirty martini with scotch for a smoky kick.

But it has become more popular for mixologists at craft cocktail bars to swap out a traditional rinse for using a spray bottle to spritz the glass before or after crafting your cocktail. You've probably seen this, but have you ever wondered why it's done?

Using a spray bottle or a cocktail atomizer to achieve the same effect as a rinse is beneficial in a number of ways. First of all, it cuts down on waste since you aren't pouring out any of the liquor you use as you would do in a traditional rinse. This technique also allows you to achieve a more even distribution. A normal rinse requires you to twirl the glass just right to cover its surface area with the rinsing liquid, which can result in more liquid at the bottom of the glass and almost none closer to the rim. You also run the risk of spilling as you're swirling your glass, so a spray bottle is neater overall.

Of course, the best part of using a cocktail atomizer is simply that it looks cool. When a bartender spritzes a fine, scented mist of absinthe over your Sazerac, it makes them look like a skilled magician working wonders without breaking a sweat. And while you can use something as basic as an olive oil Misto sprayer, there are dozens of gorgeous cocktail atomizers available for purchase online, many of them designed to look like vintage glass perfume bottles. It's a simple way to class up your drinking experience, and it will look perfect on the 1930s bar cart you found at that antique market upstate.