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.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Freshly grated nutmeg
Ingredients
30ml
Cognac at 40% ABV, VS or VSOP. Older cognac is wasted here: its detail disappears under chocolate and cream.
30ml
The brown style the IBA specifies, usually at 20 to 25% ABV. It tastes richer and slightly more bitter than white crème de cacao, and that bitterness keeps three sweet ingredients from cloying.
30ml
Single cream, cold. It is the drink’s dairy, and a hard shake whips it light and silky; double cream makes it heavy. Plant-based creams make a lighter, different drink.
Instructions
Chill a Nick and Nora glass.
Add the cognac, dark 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.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification, listed as Alexander; served in a Nick and Nora; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Shake very hard for 10 to 12 seconds. Cream needs air as well as cold, and a hard shake whips it into a light, silky texture; a gentle one leaves a cold, flat and slightly greasy drink. Use single cream straight from the fridge. Double cream makes the drink heavy, and cold cream holds the air better. Grate the nutmeg fresh, two or three passes over the surface. Ready-ground nutmeg goes stale in the jar, and with no citrus or bitters in the glass, the nutmeg is all that cuts the sweetness.
Behind the Brandy Alexander
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The Oxford Companion finds the gin drink, equal parts gin, crème de cacao and cream, in Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916, and says the most firmly supported claim for the name is Troy Alexander, bar manager at Rector’s in New York, who made it for officials of the Lackawanna Railroad. Difford’s Guide credits Harry MacElhone at Ciro’s in London with starting the swap to brandy in the early 1920s, in his 1923 ABC of Mixing Cocktails.
When the brandy version took over is not well documented. The Alexander the IBA chose for its list is the cognac one, with brown crème de cacao, and a gin Alexander now has to be asked for by name.
Two Changes
Cognac in place of gin is the obvious one. Juniper against chocolate and cream is an odd pairing that the gin version gets away with; oak and dried fruit sit under the chocolate easily.
Dark crème de cacao in place of white matters as much. The dark style tastes richer and slightly bitter, which is what keeps three sweet ingredients from cloying.
Brandy Alexander and its gin parent
Brandy Alexander
- Spirit
- 30ml cognac
- Crème de cacao
- 30ml dark
- Cream
- 30ml single cream
- UK units
- About 1.9
Alexander
- Spirit
- 30ml gin
- Crème de cacao
- 30ml white
- Cream
- 30ml cream
- UK units
- About 1.9
| Drink | Spirit | Crème de cacao | Cream | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandy Alexander | 30ml cognac | 30ml dark | 30ml single cream | About 1.9 |
| Alexander | 30ml gin | 30ml white | 30ml cream | About 1.9 |
The gin original, paler and drier, is the Alexander.
The Nutmeg
No citrus, no bitters. That leaves the nutmeg to do the work an orange twist does elsewhere.
Grated fresh, it smells warm and faintly resinous before the glass reaches your mouth. A dusting from a jar adds colour and very little else.
Lennon and the Lost Weekend
The drink’s best-known story is not a flattering one. VinePair says Harry Nilsson introduced John Lennon to the drink on 12 March 1974 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, where the two heckled the Smothers Brothers, and the Beatles Bible says Lennon was thrown out by the club’s bouncers.
Lennon reportedly called them milkshakes. With 30ml of cognac in 90ml of chocolate and cream, the strength is easy to miss.
How to Serve It
Shaken very hard, double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora or coupe, fresh nutmeg on top. Serve it in place of pudding, with coffee alongside if you like.
Make it at home
The Spirit
CognacCognac is a grape spirit distilled twice from white wine in copper pot stills in the Cognac area of western France and, under INAO’s specification, aged at least two years in oak and sold at no less than 40% ABV. The letters on the label are minimum ages, by the BNIC’s account: VS at least two years, VSOP four, XO ten. A VS or VSOP is what our cocktails assume.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Dark or white crème de cacao?
How does it differ from the gin Alexander?
How strong is a Brandy Alexander?
Does a Brandy Alexander contain dairy?
Why does the nutmeg matter?
What glass should I use?
What is the John Lennon connection?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (David Wondrich), “The Alexander Cocktail” (secondary source: first in print in the United States in 1914; Ensslin 1916; Troy Alexander at Rector’s the best-supported claim; MacElhone’s brandy version in his ABC of mixing cocktails).
- Difford’s Guide, “Brandy Alexander Cocktail Recipe” (secondary source: Harry MacElhone at Ciro’s credited with the brandy swap in the early 1920s; first brandy recipe in his 1923 ABC of mixing cocktails; the original gin Alexander in Ensslin’s 1916 book; rival name stories).
- VinePair, “John Lennon’s Legacy of Brandy Alexander “Milkshakes”” (secondary source: Nilsson introduced Lennon to the drink on 12 March 1974 at the Troubadour; the heckling of the Smothers Brothers; Lennon’s “milkshakes”).
- The Beatles Bible, “John Lennon watches the Smothers Brothers perform in Los Angeles” (named-author specialist site quoting Lennon’s own interview: Lennon and Nilsson drinking Brandy Alexanders at the Troubadour on 12 March 1974; Lennon thrown out by the club’s bouncers; “It was my first night on Brandy Alexanders and my last”).
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White Russian
A White Russian is 50ml vodka and 25ml coffee liqueur stirred over one large cube in a rocks glass for 15 to 20 seconds, then 30ml of fresh single cream poured gently onto the surface from a spoon. Nothing else garnishes it: the cream marbling down through the dark liquid is the finish. About 2.5 UK units. It is the Black Russian with cream. The IBA lists it only as a note to that drink, which is 50ml vodka and 20ml coffee liqueur: float fresh cream on top and stir it in slowly. Our extra 5ml of liqueur holds the coffee against the cream. The Oxford Companion dates its final form and name to 1965, when Southern Comfort used it to promote its short-lived Coffee Southern. The Oxford Companion says that in the Coen Brothers’ cult film The Big Lebowski the White Russian is the Dude’s main source of sustenance, and that it has become something of a cult drink.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026