January 31: National Brandy Alexander Day

Brandy Alexander
Brandy Alexander

The Brandy Alexander is a sweet, brandy-based cocktail made with cognac and crème de cacao, which gives it a chocolaty flavor. There are several origin stories including one that said it was created for the wedding of Princess Mary and Lord Lascelles in 1922. Another one claims it was named after Russian tsar, Alexander II. Drama critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott claimed that it was named after himself. And yet another story is that the drink is after Troy Alexander, a bartender at Rector’s (a New York City restaurant), who is said to have created a “white” drink to serve at a dinner celebrating Phoebe Snow, a character in a popular advertising campaign for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the early 20th century. –Phoebe was always dressed in white to promote the railroads clean-burning coal.

Brandy Alexander

1 oz. brandy
1 oz. white crème de cacao
1 oz. light cream
nutmeg

Shake all ingredients, except nutmeg, with ice. Strain contents into a cocktail glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

A popular version is the Brandy Alexandra, which is like a blended Brandy Alexander smoothie.

Brandy Alexandra

1 o.z brandy
1/2 oz. crème de cacao
1 scoop vanilla ice-cream
1 scoop ice
nutmeg

Blend all the ingredients, except nutmeg. Pour into glass and sprinkle with nutmeg.

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⇴ image from Jason Lam, flickr, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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