Brandy Alexander Cocktail Recipe

The Brandy Alexander cocktail is a rich dessert drink served in a martini glass. This classic cocktail is perfect when you’re looking for something a little sweet and easy to sip.

What is a Brandy Alexander Cocktail?

A Brandy Alexander cocktail is a combination of Brandy, creme de cacao and heavy cream with nutmeg to garnish. The resulting drink is decadent and sweet. It has a strong zing of the fruity Brandy which is quickly smoothed out by the sweet heavy cream with a hint of chocolate.

This cocktail originated in the early 1900s. In fact, it was originally just called an Alexander cocktail and used gin instead of Brandy.

Brandy is made by distilling wine. The alcohol by volume can vary dramatically from type to type. A specific type of brandy that is commonly used in this cocktail is cognac. Cognac is made from a specific region in France.

Brandy’s tend to be a dark color liqueur. They all are free and lightly sweet flavored. Since Brandy is aged oak barrels it also tends to have a slightly oaky taste.

Creme de cacao comes into variations. Comes in light or clear and dark. You can use either for this drink.

Both are made from a base spirit that is typically vodka and then infused with a chocolate flavor. The resulting liqueur is sweet and chocolatey.

Heavy cream is essentially the fat that sits on the top of milk. It is thick, sweet and creamy. In this cocktail, it helps to lend a creamy sweet smoothness to the drink that smooths out the bite of the alcohol.

When to Make This Drink:

This decadent dessert drink is perfect for many different occasions such as:

• Valentine’s Day
• after dinner drinks
• date nights
• New Year’s Eve
• holidays

Variations:

Though this drink will always be a combination of Brandy, creme de cacao and heavy cream there are a few ways to change it up.

• Use a different brandy. Cognac is the most commonly used Brandy in this drink. But, if you have a different brandy you prefer you can use any kind you want and it will vary the flavor of it.
• Change up the creme de cacao. You can mix and match dark or light creme de cacao.
• Change the ratio. The most common ratio for this cocktail is a one-to-one-to-one. However, the ratio is not standardized and therefore you could change it up to be something like a two to one to one.
• Make it frozen. Substitute out the heavy cream for vanilla ice cream and you have a frozen brandy Alexander that tastes much like a milkshake.

Some similar creamy drinks in martini glasses include: The grasshopper drink, the chocolate raspberry martini, the banana cow drink and the fluffy duck cocktail.

How to make this drink:

It only takes around 3 minutes to toss these three ingredients together and get them mixed up. There are no elaborate glass remains or layering that needs to be done as this drink is super simple to make.

Equipment:

• Martini glasses or Coupe Glass or Cocktail Glass
• jigger
• cocktail shaker
• Hawthorne strainer

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Brandy
• 1 oz Creme de cacao
• 1 oz Heavy cream
• optional: nutmeg garnish
• Ice

Instructions:

Step one

Start out by ensuring you have everything needed to make this drink including Martini glass, cocktail shaker, Hawthorne strainer, jigger, nutmeg, Brandy, heavy cream and creme de cacao.

Step two

Chill your martini glass by placing it in the freezer.

Also, grab some ice and fill your shaker up with it.

Step three

Pick up your heavy cream and your jigger. Measure out 1 oz of heavy cream and then toss it into the shaker.

Step four

Pick up the creme de cacao and jigger. Measure out 1 oz of creme de cacao and then toss it into the shaker.

Step Five

Pick up the brandy and jigger. Measure out 1 oz of Brandy and then toss it into the shaker.

Step Six

To mix your drink up, put the top on the shaker. Then shake it well. This takes about 15 – 20 seconds or until the outside of the shaker is cold to the touch.

Then, remove the top and replace it with the Hawthorne strainer.

Step Seven

Pour your drink from the shaker into the glass. Then, if you want to add a garnish, put a few dashes of nutmeg onto the top of the drink.

Recipe