Brandy Alexander

We were Brandy Alexander novices until we crafted the creamy dessert cocktail at home. After three tries, we became Brandy Alexander fans.

We also became a little bit intoxicated but that’s a different story.

Wondering what a Brandy Alexander is? While the creamy cocktail may be a Hollywood darling, it’s not as popular as dessert drinks like Eggnogs, Mudslides and Milk Punch. In fact, we had never tasted the classic pre-prohibition cocktail until we crafted Brandy Alexanders at home.

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Following the standard Brandy Alexander recipe, our first two attempts included equal parts of cognac, crème de cacao and cream. We crafted one with dark crème de cacao and the other with white crème de cacao to see which version of the chocolate liqueur we preferred.

While we both agreed that the Brandy Alexander crafted with dark crème de cacao was superior, we weren’t particularly wowed by the drink. To us, it was too similar to a Milk Punch to be special. So we took the cognac cocktail to the next level…

By increasing the cognac from one ounce to one and a half ounces, we essentially changed the ingredient ratio from 1:1:1 to 1:1.5:1. Voila! This boozier Brandy Alexander was a winner and the one that we want to imbibe again and again and again.

Most cocktail historians agree that the original Alexander was crafted with gin, crème de cacao and cream. Beyond that origin, the stories get fuzzy. Were the historians drinking too many Brandy Alexanders? It’s possible.

Troy Alexander, a bartender at the Rector Hotel in New York in the early 1900s, is a solid candidate for the honor of creating the original gin-based Alexander. If so, he probably named the drink after himself. However, some historians assert that the drink was named after a Philadelphia Phillies baseball pitcher named Grover Cleveland Alexander while others link it to other Alexanders. No, Alexander the Great was not one of the Alexanders.

Fun Fact
The brandy version of the Alexander appeared in William J Tarling’s Cafe Royal Cocktail Book in 1937.

While its history remains a mystery, the Brandy Alexander has played a supporting role in movies like The Days of Wine and Roses and TV shows like Mad Men. John Lennon compared Brandy Alexanders to milkshakes And, after a century (give or take) in the bars, it inspired a 2007 Feist song in which the singer rhapsodizes about how the Brandy Alexander goes down easy.

Yes it does, Feist. Yes it does.

The Brandy Alexander’s ingredient list is short enough to count on one hand:

You likely have Cognac and Crème de Cacao in your liquor cabinet. If not, you should easily find them at your local liquor store. As for cream and nutmeg, both pantry items are available at markets around the world.

Like many Brandy Alexander recipes, our recipe calls for cognac, a twice-distilled, barrel-aged brandy produced in Cognac, France. Similar to our Vieux Carré recipe, we use Courvoisier V.S. cognac with a 40% ABV.

However, unlike our Grasshopper recipe, we use dark crème de cacao instead of white crème de cacao. We bought a bottle of Bols dark crème de cacao for 14 euros. It has a 24% ABV and a rich cocoa flavor.

The first step is to measure the two liquors. You’ll want to measure one ounce of the crème de cacao and one and a half ounces of cognac. We use a Japanese Jigger in this and other cocktail recipes to ensure accurate measurements and clean pours.

Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.

Next, measure an ounce of cream and pour it into the shaker with the liquors. Add a handful of ice.

Close the shaker and shake vigorously until the liquids are thoroughly mixed and chilled. This step should take about 20 seconds.

Our boozy Brandy Alexander is a pretty perfect potent potable. However, here are some variations and alternatives if you want to experiment to make the drink your own.

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