January 31st is National Brandy Alexander Day. Look at it as a transition out of your healthy resolution-filled January and gearing up for Valentine’s Day carbs. The creamy cocktail was a favorite in bygone days, but if you’d like to take a stab at bringing this classic back into the fold, it’s dangerously good—like a spiked milkshake.
First, a little 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). So why is it called Alexander? It’s a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called the Alexander.
Who was that Alexander? Good question. No one related to royalty, and an New Yorker to boot. According to Liquor.com, one of the earliest known printed recipes for the Alexander dates 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 in order to serve a white drink at a dinner celebrating Phoebe Snow.
Now, if you’ve checked your facts, in 1916 the singer Phoebe Snow (1950-2011) was not around. But this was a fictitious advertising character Phoebe Snow, a railroad traveler who wore a snow-white dress. She graced an advertising campaign for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The railroad was trumpeting that it powered its locomotives with anthracite, a clean-burning variety of coal—that would not in any way shed coal dust on that white dress.
Interested in mixing yourself a Brandy Alexander? Here’s a recipe to get you going, courtesy thenibble.com:
Ingredients Per Drink:
1-1/2 ounces brandy
1 ounce dark crème de cacao*
1 ounce half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
*The original Alexander recipe would have used white crème de cacao, for a snow white drink.
Preparation:
1. Fill a shaker halfway with ice cubes.
2. Add brandy, creme de cacao and half-and-half; shake well.
3. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with grated nutmeg. Or, rim the glass with a mixture of nutmeg and sugar.
Want to skip the pretense that this is a cocktail and make it into a Brandy Alexander Dessert? Add a scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream and serve in a globe wine goblet or other alternative to a martini glass.
Cheers!
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Photo Credit: Micaela Fiorellini / Shutterstock.com
