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January 31st is National Brandy Alexander Day. We look at it as a transition out of Healthy Food Month at THE NIBBLE and a way to gird ourselves for Valentine’s Day carbs.
The creamy cocktail was often served as a nightcap.
It’s dangerously good—like a spiked milkshake—and you can have it as a dessert. We have served it with a small scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream in the center of the coupe.
Below:
> The history of the Brandy Alexander.
> Have fun with these recipe variations.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The year’s 50+ cocktail and spirits holidays.
> What is Cognac and the different classifications of Cognac. Brandy uses similar age-based classifications with differences by category*.
BRANDY ALEXANDER HISTORY
According to the Classic Cocktail Club of Milan, Italy, the Brandy Alexander was created in 1922 in London, “at the time of” the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood to Henry, Viscount Lascelles (later, 6th Earl of Harewood).
But this is cocktail legend. the Alexander was created in New York City, with the earliest-known printed recipe dating to 1916.
The cocktail is believed to have originated at Rector’s (est. 1899), a seafood restaurant in the New York theater district.
The bartender there, one Troy Alexander, created the eponymous concoction as a snowy white drink for a dinner celebrating the Phoebe Snow advertising campaign of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. That first Alexander contained clear gin—a white spirit instead of the brown brandy that was to come.
Not to be confused with the Baby Boomer singer Phoebe Snow (1950-2011) who was not yet around, this Phoebe was a fictitious advertising character, a Gibson Girl-type who debuted in 1903.
She was always clad in a snowy white dress to highlight the cleanliness of the railroad’s anthracite-coal-powered trains, a clean-burning variety of coal. The smokeless coal of railroad’s locomotives could never shed coal dust on that white dress!
While the cocktail went on to be well received by the public, the use of heavy cream was so uncommon at the time that critics boxed it in as a “lady’s cocktail,” an “ignorable drink” for men, in the days of the stiff Old Fashioned. But the critics didn’t kill off the drink.
Irony: Prohibition Saved The Alexander From Obscuity
Ironically, Prohibition saved the drink. The heavy cream and sugar were perfect for masking the harsh, chemical taste of illegally distilled “bathtub” gin.
Subsequently, bartenders began experimenting with Cognac or brandy. The richer, oaky profile of aged grape spirit harmonized with chocolate far better than the piney notes of gin. This brandy version was sometimes called the Alexander #2.
After the repeal of Prohibition, the Brandy Alexander became a popular after-dinner drink or nightcap. It appealed to a new demographic of social drinkers who didn’t enjoy the burn of straight whiskey or dry martinis. The drink began to enter popular culture through literature and film.
By the 1960s, the Brandy Alexander was firmly established and the original gin version was largely forgotten. It fit right into the 1960s cocktail culture, where rich, creamy drinks (like the Grasshopper, Pink Squirrel, and White Russian) were at thepeak of fashion.
By this time, the International Bartenders Association (IBA) had essentially codified the Brandy version as the Alexander.
And Now, The John Lennon/Brandy Alexander “Incident”
On March 12, 1974, Lennon attended a Smothers Brothers concert at The Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood with a fellow musician, Harry Nilsson. Nilsson introduced Lennon to the Brandy Alexander, which would become Lennon’s favorite cocktail (he loved heavy cream and poured it on his breakfast cornflakes).
But his first reaction that night was to call it a milkshake, and he continued to down shake after shake.
Not surprisingly, he became heavily intoxicated and, encouraged by Nilsson, began to relentlessly heckle the Smothers Brothers with profanities. The situation escalated until security intervened.
During the scuffle that followed, Lennon lost his signature round glasses, and he and Nilsson were ejected from the club. The next day, Lennon and Nilsson sent flowers and apologies and the Smothers Brothers graciously defended Lennon to the world press.
Ironically, the original milkshake was made with whiskey.
RECIPE: BRANDY ALEXANDER
If you choose to use Cognac instead of brandy, use a VS or at best, a VSOP*.
Ingredients Per Drink
1-1/2 ounces brandy
1 ounce dark crème de cacao†
1 ounce half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
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