Brandy Alexander

This cocktail is like a dessert in a glass, or a milkshake for grown-ups. Before the Brandy Alexander, there were other Alexanders, such as gin (which sounds revolting). Swap the brandy for vodka and you have something not far from a Mudslide (see page 133). Use Irish whiskey and essentially you have Baileys. If you’re sticking with brandy, don’t use your finest Cognac with all that cream; this is just the kind of drink where a sweeter spirit like Brandy de Jerez would be ideal. The Alexander in all its forms was invented some time around the 1920s, and may have been named after Alexander Woollcott, drama critic of The New Yorker, or even Tsar Alexander II. It’s a favourite of 20thcentury literature, cropping up Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And it’s just one of dozens of drinks that appears in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. The Brandy Alexander’s most famous champion was John Lennon, who loved the stuff.

ICE CUBES, CRACKED

1 MEASURE BRANDY

1 MEASURE DARK CRÈME DE CACAO

1 MEASURE SINGLE CREAM CHOCOLATE FLAKES, TO GARNISH

Put the cracked ice into a cocktail shaker. Add all the remaining ingredients and shake until a frost forms on the outside of the shaker. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkling of chocolate flakes.

This recipe is from The Cocktail Dictionary: An A–Z of cocktail recipes, from Daiquiri and Negroni to Martini and Spritz by Henry Jeffreys.