A Brandy Alexander
She’s got main character energy.
💫💫💫💫 If you like this post, can you kindly hit the ❤️ at the bottom? It sure does help spread the word! 💫💫💫
A quick note before we close our computers, turn off breaking-news alerts, queue up Elf (that escalator scene gets me every time), and finally settle into a long winter’s nap…
A few weeks ago, the lovely Jolene Handy wrote a newsletter about Brandy Alexanders. This felt particularly significant, as I’m on a personal mission to revive this retro cocktail, so much so that I included a recipe for one in my forthcoming book. It also happens to be one of my favorite photographs in the collection.
The Brandy Alexander is not a year-round imbibement. It is very much a holiday drink, fit with cognac, crème de cacao and heavy cream, best enjoyed as a dessert or an afternoon treat, when the light is low and the fire aglow. That time happens to be now.
Chad and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on Sunday, and after a late and lazy lunch at Feast and Floret, we made our way to The Maker lounge, where I ordered one off-menu. They kindly obliged and absolutely hit it out of the park.
If I’m being honest, I have a somewhat complicated relationship with this drink. I bartended for many years as a young person in the city, and every Christmas when I went home, my mother would ask me to make them to order. She even had a station set up. When I say it was the last thing I wanted to do after slinging other people’s drinks for weeks on end, that’s no understatement. But, I did it anyway.
I’m using this moment to reclaim the drink, on my own terms. Now that I’m no longer on deck to make rounds of them, it actually brings me joy to make one (or two) for friends when the mood strikes. I’ll be bringing the ingredients over to Helen and Dan’s, should the spirit (insert wink) move me.
And should it move you, I’ve included the recipe from Better at Home below. You have pre-ordered, yes?
For your listening pleasure here is a Feist song called Brandy Alexander, because how could I not?
💫💫💫💫 If you like this post, can you kindly hit the ❤️ at the bottom? It sure does help spread the word! 💫💫💫
A Brandy Alexander
I bartended in restaurants all through college and again when I first moved to New York City in the early aughts. So as you can imagine, it was the last thing I wanted to do when I went home for the holidays. Yet, somehow I always ended up in the kitchen, shaker in hand, making Brandy Alexanders to order. I wasn’t thrilled. It took me up until meeting our pal Dan Farber, an incredibly talented brandy distiller, to think about them again. Upon our first meeting, trying to make conversation, I sheepishly asked how he felt about this classic, retro dessert cocktail. I was surprisingly met with warm enthusiasm and promptly invited him over to drink one. He did. We were up till 1 a.m.
Makes 1 cocktail
INGREDIENTS
Ice
1 ½ ounces Cognac or brandy
1 ounce dark crème de cacao
1 ounce heavy cream
Freshly grated nutmeg, for serving
METHOD
Fill a cocktail or coupe glass with ice water. In a cocktail shaker, combine the Cognac, crème de cacao, and cream, and fill with ice. Shake with great purpose until the outside of the shaker becomes so cold you almost cannot touch it.
Discard the ice water from the cocktail glass and strain the cocktail into the glass. Grate a bit of nutmeg over the top.
Cheers!
That’s it! I’ll be seeing you in the New Year, where this is so much planned I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it, but it’s all very good things.
Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays.
And don’t forget, it’s always Better at Home.
With so much love,
Cx
Been on a milk punch journey over here, not the clarified kind, and it feels kindred. Happy holidays!
Colu, how beautiful and delicious! Thank you so much for the mention, Happy Anniversary and Happy Holidays! ✨ xx