The Brandy and Coke is a perfect cocktail to sip on a quiet evening at home, a fancy dinner party, or even your favorite restaurant. There are very few occasions where this cocktail would be out of place.

What Is A Brandy And Coke?
Brandy and Coke, also known as, a Brandy Cola is a simple cocktail made with, you guessed it, brandy and cola; usually Coke. You will often see it with an accompanying lime wedge on the rim of the glass which adds a nice citrus flavor to the drink, as well.
The drink has a wonderful flavor and is so tasty, it is sometimes used as a basis for desserts; like Brandy and Coke brownies.
If other brandy based drinks interest you, you should try out both the Cognac Highball (w/ Ginger Ale) and the KC Tea (w/ Sprite).
What’s the difference between brandy and cognac?
This is one of the more common questions we get. Especially since we have a different recipe for Cognac and Coke.
We will try to make this as simple as possible. Brandy, in it’s simplest form, is made by fermenting fruit as opposed to corn, rye, or some other form of grain. Cognac is brandy made from distilled white wine.
For a brandy to be a cognac, however, it must meet a certain criteria:
- It must go through two distillations
- Distillation must be in copper pots
- It must age for a minimum of two years in French oak barrels
- It MUST come from the Cognac region of France
So, does that make wine a type of brandy?
Another good question. The quick answer is no. Wine is not brandy. As we mentioned, brandy is made using fermented fruit. Brandy is also made using distilled wine (still fruit based). Since it is distilled wine, brandy will have a higher alcohol content than the original wine from which it came.
How to make this drink:
There are multiple ways you can find to make a Brandy and Coke. We will stick to the simplest, most straight forward way now. But we will include some variations at the end and on the recipe card.
Equipment
Ingredients
Brandy
Coke or Diet Coke
Lime wedge or maraschino cherries for garnish
Step One
Fill a rocks glass with ice.
Step Two
Add 2 oz of your favorite Brandy
Step Three
Top off your drink with about 4 oz of Coke
Step Four
Stir with a bar spoon, garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy!
Alternate Versions
There are a few different ways you can make a Brandy Cola. The above is the simple, classic way. Let’s look at a few others, shall we?
Enhanced version
The enhanced version follows the same recipe as above with a few exceptions:
- Add in a few splashes of Angostura bitters
- Stir with a cinnamon stick instead of a bar spoon
- swap the lime wedge garnish out for an apple slice or two
Cherry Libre
This version obviously brings in a cherry flavor but it also has an extra bite with the inclusion of rum. We use the same ingredients, plus rum, as the simple version but with different measurements:
- Use 1 oz of a good cherry brandy
- Add in 1 oz of your favorite gold rum
- Top it off with around 4 oz or so of Coke
- Use a lime wedge for a garnish
Cherry Libre (alt. version)
If you want a little more of a sweet cherry flavor, try out this alternate version:
- Use 1 oz of a brandy
- Add in 1 oz of your favorite gold rum
- Top it off with around 4 oz or so of Cherry Coke
- Use a lime wedge for a garnish
Recipe
Brandy And Coke aka Brandy Cola
Equipment
- Rocks glass
- bar spoon
- jigger
Ingredients
Simple Version
- 2 oz Brandy
- 4 oz Coke alt. Diet Coke Coke Zero
- 1 lime wedge garnish
Enhanced Version
- 2 oz Brandy
- 4 oz Coke alt. Diet Coke Coke Zero
- 2 dash Angostura bitters
- 1 cinnamon stick instead of bar spoon
- 1 apple slice garnish
Cherry Libre
- 1 oz Cherry brandy
- 1 oz Gold rum
- 4 oz Coke
- 1 Lime wedge garnish
Cherry Libre (alt)
- 1 oz Brandy
- 1 oz Gold rum
- 4 oz Cherry Coke
- 1 Lime wedge garnish
Instructions
Simple Version
- Fill highball glass with ice
- Add in 2 oz of brandy
- Add 4 oz of Coke
- Stir gently with bar spoon
- Garnish with a lime wedge
- Enjoy!
Enhanced Version
- Fill highball glass with ice
- Add in 2 oz Brandy
- Add in 4 oz Coke alt. Diet Coke, Coke Zero
- Add in 2 dash Angostura bitters
- stir with a cinnamon stick instead of bar spoon
- Add an apple slice as garnish garnish
Cherry Libre
- Fill highball glass with ice
- Add in 1 oz Cherry brandy
- Add in 1 oz Gold rum
- Add in 4 oz Coke
- Stir gently with bar spoon
- Garnish with a lime wedge
- Enjoy!
Cherry Libre (alt)
- Fill highball glass with ice
- Add in 1 oz Brandy
- Add in 1 oz Gold rum
- Add in 4 oz Cherry Coke
- Stir gently with bar spoon
- Garnish with a lime wedge
- Enjoy!
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
For more great cocktails
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John says
love it !