We present to your attention a recipe of one of the most famous elite alcoholic cocktails. The proposed variations are designed both for true gourmets, and for ordinary lovers of tasty alcohol.
Appearance story
The Brandy Alexander cocktail, like many other alcoholic drinks containing sweet ingredients, appeared thanks to the beloved and well-known “dry law”, approved in the United States of America at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The composition of this cocktail in its original form includes cream and sweet liquor. Strictly speaking, sweet ingredients helped mask the alcohol that is part of the drink. Thus thoughtful businessmen managed to circumvent the strictest ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages throughout the United States.
Who invented Brandy Alexander? The creator of the cocktail is called the bartender, who in the twenties of the last century worked in one of the most famous underground American bars called Speak Easy (in the recording in Russian letters you can find the name "Spikizi"). If you translate the name of the bar, you get "Speak easily." Although the question is whether it will be possible to speak easily after a large amount of drunk Brandy Alexander, it is rhetorical. Regular customers of this institution were representatives of the high society of America.
Name history
Studying the origin of the name of the cocktail was done by an amateur etymologist Barry Popik. As you already understood, the traditional Greek and Brandy Alexander are poorly combined. The origin of the name is purely American, but more precisely - English. Barry managed to find an article by Walter Winchell (a columnist in the Evening Independent), published in 1929, which talked about a dinner party in the well-known institution of Rector's before the Prohibition Act entered into force. The character in whose honor the same dinner was given was chosen very unusual. Snow White Phoebe (also called Phoebe Snow) became the heroine - a fictional girl from a commercial on the United States Railways. Crystal clear white clothes have always been an integral attribute of Phoebe, and the girl herself immensely loved to be a passenger of perfectly cleaned American rail trains. A bartender at a dinner party in honor of Phoebe was a certain Troy Alexander. It was he who decided to mix in honor of the heroine of American advertising, and concurrently - the heroes of the occasion, a cocktail of crystal white color. He did it pretty well, but since the girl was fictional, Brandy Alexander was named after his author.
According to another version, the cocktail got its name in honor of the famous literary critic Alexander Woottock. The same Alexander was very fond of visiting bars with an enviable frequency, and he did it just for the sake of a cocktail, which was later named after him. The Brandy Alexander cocktail recipe was on the Harry McKelhon bar card, called ABC Cocktails. It is known for certain that this happened in 1922.
The story is not limited to two versions. There is a third variant of the origin of the name of the cocktail. They say that in fact this alcoholic drink was not created at all in the twentieth century and, of course, not in America. In accordance with this version, the cocktail was first prepared for the wife of King Edward VII of England named Alexander. At first, the drink bore a feminine name, which after changed into a masculine variation.
Recipe for Brandy Alexander
Traditional recipe
If you make a cocktail, observing ancient traditions, then you will need brandy, brown cocoa liquor, cream and ground nutmeg. The cooking technology is very simple: the three main ingredients (brandy, cocoa liquor and cream) should be mixed in a shaker in a ratio of 1: 1: 1, 30 ml each. Pour the drink into a cocktail glass and sprinkle with nutmeg. You can throw a couple of ice cubes.
Gourmet Recipe
Good brandy is a rarity in Russia, so alcoholic gourmets, in order not to spoil the impression of a cocktail, can replace brandy with high-quality cognac. We take 25 ml of light cocoa liquor and cream, mix in a shaker with 30 ml of cognac and several ice cubes. Pour into a cocktail glass and decorate with chopped nutmeg on top.
Recipe for mere mortals
They turned to traditions, gourmets were pleased, it was the turn of the average Russians, who found it quite difficult to get not only high-quality brandy, but also light cocoa liqueur, which was necessary for the preparation of “Brandy Alexander” according to all the rules. It can be replaced with grated dark chocolate (with a cocoa content of at least 70%) and sugar syrup. We mix the ingredients in the shaker in the following proportions: 45 ml of cognac (if you still find a good brandy, then take it), 30 ml of cream, 10 ml of double sugar syrup, a teaspoon of grated dark chocolate (it is better not to save on chocolate). Add ice (you can immediately into a shaker, you can into a glass), sprinkle with grated nutmeg on top, which, by the way, can also be replaced with grated dark chocolate.