Brandy Alexander

• Brandy 1/3
• Chocolate Liqueur 1/3
• Cream 1/3

Cooked in a shaker . Serve without ice in a glass of sauer or a champagne saucer ^[4] .

The cocktail, like many other alcoholic drinks containing cream and sweet liquor, owes its appearance to the American Prohibition , which operated in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the “sweet” components of the cocktail that helped mask the alcohol and thus circumvent the ban on its sale.

The author of the drink is a bartender who worked in the famous American underground bar “Speak Easy” in the 1920s (see also Spikisi ) , in which visitors were members of high American society.

According to an amateur etymologist, Barry Popick (from whom New York became known as the “ Big Apple ”), he found an article from the 1929 Evening Independent columnist Walter Winchell , in which they talked about a dinner party in a rather famous institution before joining by virtue of the " Prohibition " - cafe English. Rector's . The article describes a dinner given in honor of the popular fictional advertising character of Snow-white Phoebe ( English Phoebe Snow , Phoebe Snow) - a lady who is always dressed in white and loved to ride the trains of the advertised American railways, the salons of which were always clean. Behind the bar at a dinner party was Troy Alexander , who decided to mix a snow-white cocktail in honor of the hero of the occasion. Due to the fact that the hero of the occasion was a fictional character, the name of the cocktail was given in honor of its creator. The version looks very believable. Nevertheless, based on materials from earlier printed sources (1915), the Alexander cocktail appeared in 1915 in the book Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Enslina. However, it is in the cocktail recipe described in this book that grated nutmeg is first mentioned, which defames the snow-white dress of Phoebe Snow , and for the legend of cocktail origin described later ^[1] .

According to one of the unofficial versions, the cocktail was named after the famous literary critic of those years, Alexander Woottock, who loved to drop by the bar just for the sake of this cocktail. And already in 1922, the recipe for "Alexander" was included in Harry McKelhon's book "ABC Cocktails" ^[5] .

The first mention in 1915.

In fact, the cocktail is mentioned in the book Recipes for Mixed Drinks , author Hugo Ensslin, 1915 ^[6] . Therefore, it already existed in 1915, though gin was used instead of brandy. So, the first drink of the Alexandrov family was prepared on the basis of gin and liqueur Créme de Cacao white, its recipe ^[1] :

• 30 ml gin ;
• 30 ml white Créme de Cacao ;
• 30 ml cream 20%.

Thus, “Brandy Alexander” (called in some sources the English Alexander No. 2 - “ Alexander No. 2”) is just a variation of the “Alexander” cocktail. It is believed that it was invented in the UK and its appearance is probably associated with the wedding of Princess Mary (Countess of Harwood) and Viscount Lassell in 1922. Alexander has only mentioned brandy since 1936 ( Burke's Complete Cocktail and Tastybite Recipes describes the recipe for this cocktail in Harman Barney Burke's book). However, it was Brandy Alexander (aka Alexander No. 2) who surpassed his predecessor in popularity, thus, in the vast majority of bars in the world, a cocktail is prepared on the basis of brandy, the best of which is cognac ^[1] .

The Brandy Alexander cocktail, namely one of its common nicknames, Milkshake, was very fond of one of the members of the Liverpool four: ex- beat John Lennon , who became interested in a cocktail in 1973-1974 during his “lost weekend” with Yoko Ono ^[1] .

• Website of the International Barmen Association
• Brandy Alexander Cocktail at IBA
• Brandy Alexander cocktail on the site of the Barman Association of Russia