The drink was possibly named after Troy Alexander, a bartender at Rector’s, a New York City restaurant, who created the drink in order to serve a white drink at a dinner celebrating Phoebe Snow, a character in a popular advertising campaign in the early 20th century.
As the early 20th century story goes, barkeep Tony Alexander was commissioned to create a drink for a party. The soiree—held at Rector’s, a popular New York City restaurant of the time—was thrown to launch an ad campaign for a railroad company hailing the use of anthracite, a clean-burning variety of coal. As the central ‘celebrity’ of the campaign, New Yorker socialite Phoebe Snow, a fictional character devised solely for marketing purposes, rode the train in all white. Why? Thanks to anthracite, she could now arrive at her destination completely unsoiled and soot-free. (Back in the day, rail travel, with coal-burning engines, was a dirty endeavor.) Thus, the Brandy Alexander, with its pure-as-driven-snow appearance, was the ideal social lubricant for the railroad’s rendezvous.
Not much… except for the sweet sipper named Brandy Alexander. As the pre-Prohibition forerunner of a category of cocktails deigned as ‘dessert drinks,’ the modern-day Brandy Alexander is a concoction of brandy, crème de cacao, cream and topped with freshly grated nutmeg. Today on National Brandy Alexander Day we celebrate this beautiful concoction.
And even today, rebel rousing bar star and author Jeffery Morganthaler has sung its praises. On his self-entitled cocktail blog, he wrote this homage: “All this talk of chocolate martinis is giving me diabetes. Sure, you can pour a bunch of sweet, creamy liqueurs into a glass and call it the ‘Fine Art of Mixology’, but you’d be missing the whole point. Why not try something that’s going to reward you from start to finish, a drink that packs the Bacchanalian punch of brandy with the delicate flavors of chocolate and cream?”
In 1970, actress Mary Richards asked for one during her interview in the pilot episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. At LA’s Troubadour club in 1974, John Lennon was kicked out for heckling the Smothers Brothers. This was the very same night he was introduced to the Brandy Alexander (and a lot of them).
It’s obviously a pimped-out version of the classic—but largely forgotten—Alexander cocktail and mixes brandy instead of gin with creme de cacao and cream. But whoever eighty-sixed the British gin and welcomed the French cognac to the party is, I believe, lost to history.
Phoebe Snow, I should explain, was a fictitious character used in an advertising campaign for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The company wanted to get the message across that it powered its locomotives with anthracite, a clean-burning variety of coal. The ads emphasized this by showing Ms. Snow traveling while wearing a snow-white dress.
Getting back to the Brandy Alexander, I should note that it was first known as the Alexander #2. Want to know the secret to making the drink? Go heavy on the brandy and light on the sweet stuff. My recipe is a decent jumping-off point; you can play with it to make it your own. Try the original gin-based Alexander, too. It’s a mighty fine drink.
The Brandy Alexander was a darned popular drink when I was working Upper East Side bars in Manhattan during the ’70s, and when carefully crafted, it can be a quality quaff. But where did it come from?
This recipe for the Brandy Alexander was originally published on Liquor.com in 2011 by the late, great Gary “Gaz” Regan.
The Brandy Alexander – a simple holiday drink
FAQ
What is the difference between Brandy Alexander and Alexander?
Is Brandy Alexander alcoholic?
What does a Brandy Alexander taste like?
What is a Baileys and brandy drink called?
What is a Brandy Alexander cocktail?
A Brandy Alexander is a brandy -based dessert cocktail consisting of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream, that became popular during the early 20th century. It is a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called simply an Alexander. The cocktail known as Alexander today may contain gin or brandy.
What is a gin & brandy Alexander?
In Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1915) by Hugo Ensslin, a drink by the same name is made with equal parts of gin, white crème de cacao and sweet cream, shaken with ice, and strained. The Alexander was originally made with gin, but the modern version is usually made with brandy and is called a Brandy Alexander.
Is there a non alcoholic version of Brandy Alexander?
There’s no well-known non-alcoholic version of the Brandy Alexander, as Brandy and Crème de Cacao are its key ingredients. What other classic cocktails are similar to the Brandy Alexander? Cocktails that share similar features are the Grasshopper and the White Russian, both are creamy and dessert-like in nature.
What is the difference between Brandy Alexander and cognac?
The Alexander is equal parts creamy, intriguing, and delicious: a mix of Cognac with cocoa liqueur. It’s almost like a grown-up, more balanced version of the White Russian. The Brandy Alexander is a dessert cocktail made with equal parts brandy, creme de cacao liqueur, and heavy cream.