Alexander
An Alexander is 30ml each of London Dry gin, white crème de cacao and fresh single cream, shaken very hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora, with nutmeg grated over the top. About 1.9 UK units. It contains dairy. This is the older of the two Alexanders. Difford’s Guide says the original Alexander first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916, as equal parts gin, crème de cacao and cream. The Oxford Companion says it first appeared in print in the United States in 1914, and that the claim with most support traces it to Troy Alexander at Rector’s in New York. The cognac version came later and now holds the name in most bars: the IBA’s Alexander is cognac, brown crème de cacao and cream. Gin changes the drink more than you might expect. Juniper and citrus peel cut through the cream where cognac sinks into it, so this one is paler, drier and less of a pudding. Difford’s Guide offers two namesakes, a Philadelphia pitcher and a bartender at Rector’s, and calls the eponym uncertain.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Freshly grated nutmeg
Ingredients
30ml
A London Dry at 40% ABV with clear juniper. It keeps the cream in check; a soft, sweet gin lets the drink slide towards dessert.
30ml
At our working 24% ABV. White rather than brown, for the pale colour and a lighter chocolate note. Pick one that tastes of cocoa rather than of sweets.
30ml
Fresh single cream, and the dairy in the drink. Double cream makes it heavy; single cream shaken hard turns light and silky.
Instructions
Chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Add the gin, white crème de cacao and cream to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake very hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled glass.
Grate fresh nutmeg over the surface.
Our version
The IBA’s Alexander is the later cognac drink: 30ml each of cognac, brown crème de cacao and fresh cream. Ours is the earlier gin version Hugo Ensslin printed, in the same equal measures, with white crème de cacao and single cream, double strained.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Shake harder than you would for a sour, for the full 10 to 12 seconds with plenty of ice. Cream needs air beaten into it to turn silky; a short, polite shake leaves it cold and thin. Double strain so no ice chips break the surface. Use white crème de cacao. The brown one belongs to the Brandy Alexander; here it muddies the colour and pushes the chocolate in front of the gin. Grate the nutmeg fresh, straight over the glass. There is no citrus and no bitters, so it is the only sharp smell the drink has, and pre-ground nutmeg has little left to give.
Behind the Alexander
Flavour Profile
Two Drinks Called Alexander
The name turns up on more than one drink. Jacob Grohusko’s Jack’s Manual of 1910 gives an Alexander Cocktail of 75% rye whiskey and 25% Bénédictine with a piece of ice and a twist of orange peel, stirred. Difford’s Guide says Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916 gives the one that lasted: gin, crème de cacao and cream in equal parts, shaken and strained.
Difford’s Guide offers two namesakes: the Philadelphia pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Troy Alexander, a bartender at Rector’s in New York, who may have made it for a dinner celebrating a railway advertising campaign. It calls the eponym uncertain.
Why Gin Works With Cream
Cream coats the tongue and dulls whatever comes after it, and a soft spirit disappears into it. Gin does not. Juniper, coriander and citrus peel are sharp, resinous smells that sit on top of the cream, so the drink tastes of gin and chocolate rather than of sweet milk.
That is the difference from the brandy version. Cognac brings oak and dried fruit, which join the cream and make the drink rounder. Gin keeps an edge, and the Alexander finishes drier than it looks.
Equal Thirds
With no citrus and no bitters there is nothing to adjust with, so the proportion does the balancing. More cream and it turns bland; more cacao and it turns sweet; more gin and the spirit separates from the cream on the palate.
The same frame carries the family. The Brandy Alexander swaps in cognac and brown cacao, the Grasshopper replaces the spirit with crème de menthe, and the Silk Stocking moves it to tequila.
Ensslin, the IBA and Ours
The gin Alexander as printed, the IBA’s cognac Alexander, and ours
Spirit
- Ensslin, 1910s
- Gin, one third
- IBA Alexander
- 30ml cognac
- Ours
- 30ml London Dry gin
Crème de cacao
- Ensslin, 1910s
- White, one third
- IBA Alexander
- 30ml brown
- Ours
- 30ml white
Cream
- Ensslin, 1910s
- Sweet cream, one third
- IBA Alexander
- 30ml fresh cream
- Ours
- 30ml single cream
Method
- Ensslin, 1910s
- Shaken, strained
- IBA Alexander
- Shaken, strained into a chilled cocktail glass
- Ours
- Shaken 10 to 12 seconds, double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora
UK units
- Ensslin, 1910s
- Depends on the measure
- IBA Alexander
- About 2.0
- Ours
- About 1.9
| Element | Ensslin, 1910s | IBA Alexander | Ours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | Gin, one third | 30ml cognac | 30ml London Dry gin |
| Crème de cacao | White, one third | 30ml brown | 30ml white |
| Cream | Sweet cream, one third | 30ml fresh cream | 30ml single cream |
| Method | Shaken, strained | Shaken, strained into a chilled cocktail glass | Shaken 10 to 12 seconds, double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora |
| UK units | Depends on the measure | About 2.0 | About 1.9 |
How to Serve It
Up, very cold, in a chilled Nick & Nora, with nutmeg grated over it at the last moment. It belongs after dinner, and because the gin keeps it lighter than the brandy version, it is not out of place before one either.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008, juniper must lead the taste, the floor is 37.5% ABV, and the route the flavour takes sets the grade: plain gin, distilled gin or London gin. Our recipes count it at 40%, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Alexander?
Is the original Alexander made with gin?
Who created the Alexander?
How is it different from a Brandy Alexander?
White or brown crème de cacao?
Does an Alexander contain dairy?
How strong is an Alexander?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Alexander cocktails” (secondary source: the original Alexander, equal parts gin, crème de cacao and cream, first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks; the brandy version took around two decades to emerge and appears with the gin one in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book; namesakes: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Troy Alexander of Rector’s).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (David Wondrich), “The Alexander Cocktail” (secondary source: first in print in the United States in 1914; an earlier Alexander of rye and Bénédictine; the claim with most support Troy Alexander at Rector’s; Ensslin 1916; MacElhone’s brandy version 1922; Esquire’s ten worst cocktails of 1934).
- J. A. Grohusko (1910), Internet Archive, “Jack’s Manual” (primary source, p. 24: ALEXANDER COCKTAIL. (Use bar glass.) 75% rye whiskey, 25% Benedictine, 1 piece of ice, twist of orange peel. Stir and serve.).
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Brandy Alexander
A Brandy Alexander is 30ml of cognac, 30ml of dark crème de cacao and 30ml of cold single cream, shaken very hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, finished with freshly grated nutmeg. About 1.9 UK units. It contains dairy. The IBA uses exactly these measures. It lists the drink simply as the Alexander and makes it with cognac and brown crème de cacao. The earlier Alexander, still made, uses gin and white crème de cacao. Equal thirds and no acid make it a dessert in a glass. The cacao brings chocolate and a little bitterness, the cognac oak and dried fruit underneath, and the nutmeg is the only thing cutting across the cream. The hard shake matters most: it whips air into the cream, so the drink has texture as well as weight.
Grasshopper
A Grasshopper is 20ml of green crème de menthe, 20ml of white crème de cacao and 20ml of fresh cream, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, with an optional mint leaf. About 1.0 UK unit. The measures are the IBA’s. There is no base spirit. Two liqueurs at about 24% ABV share the job, so it is one of the gentler drinks served up. The cream is dairy, so it is not for anyone avoiding milk. Tujague’s restaurant in New Orleans says on its own page that Philip Guichet invented it in 1918 for a cocktail competition in New York City, where it came second, and gives its drink as white and green crème de menthe, white and dark crème de cacao, cream and brandy. The Oxford Companion, in an entry by Robert F. Moss, dates the legend to 1928 or thereabouts, says no documentary evidence substantiates it, and finds the first printed reference to a Grasshopper cocktail in February 1950, with the Midwest the likeliest place of origin.
Silk Stocking
A Silk Stocking is 45ml of blanco tequila, 22.5ml of white crème de cacao, 22.5ml of single cream and 10ml of grenadine, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, with ground cinnamon dusted on top. About 2.3 UK units. It contains dairy. It is the Alexander’s frame of spirit, cacao and cream with tequila as the spirit. Blanco’s pepper and green agave cut through the cream the way juniper does in the original gin Alexander, and the grenadine adds pomegranate tartness and the pink colour. It is younger than it looks. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, gives the earliest book reference it has seen as Helen Spence’s Cocktails for Two of 1982, where it is a blended drink. The shaken version most bars pour now owes much to Ryan Chetiyawardana’s 2009 recipe, which Difford’s says he shared in London during the UK finals of the World Class competition.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026