Alexander
IBA official cocktail
TypeCocktail
Base spirit
ServedStraight up: chilled, without ice
Standard garnishSprinkle fresh ground nutmeg on top.
Standard drinkware
Cocktail glass
IBA specified
ingredients†
PreparationPour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
† Alexander recipe at International Bartenders Association

A Brandy Alexander is a brandy-based dessert cocktail[1][2] consisting of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream, that became popular during the early 20th century.[3] It is a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called simply an Alexander. The cocktail known as Alexander today may contain gin or brandy.[4] Ice cream can be added for a "frozen Brandy Alexander".[5]

History

There are many rumours about its origins. Some sources say it was created at the time of the London wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles in 1922.[6] Drama critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott said it was named after him. Other sources say it was named after the Russian tsar Alexander II.[7]

The drink was possibly named after Troy Alexander, a bartender at Rector's, a New York City restaurant, who created the drink in order to serve a white drink at a dinner celebrating Phoebe Snow, a character in a popular advertising campaign in the early 20th century.[8]

John Lennon was introduced to it on March 12, 1974, by Harry Nilsson, on Lennon's so-called "lost weekend". The pair began heckling the Smothers Brothers, and whilst being ejected Lennon allegedly assaulted a waitress.[9] Lennon later said the drinks "tasted like milkshakes".[10]

In film and television

A Brandy Alexander served on the rocks

In the movie Days of Wine and Roses, alcoholic Joe Clay, played by Jack Lemmon, takes Kirsten Arnesen, played by Lee Remick, out on a date. When she explains that she dislikes liquor but likes chocolate, he orders her a Brandy Alexander. This begins Kirsten's descent into alcoholism.[11]

In the 1981 film Tattoo, Bruce Dern takes Maud Adams out for dinner and orders a Brandy Alexander. When she comments that he does not look the Brandy Alexander type, he replies, "I like the foam...it reminds me of the ocean."[12]

In the James Gray movie Two Lovers, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) tells Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) she drinks Brandy Alexanders with her boyfriend Ronald, a rich lawyer. Leonard orders one at a restaurant to impress her, but ruins the effect by mistaking the stirrer for a straw.[11][13]

In print

The character Brandy Alexander in the novel Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk is named after the drink.[14]

Anthony Blanche orders four "Alexandra cocktails" in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited.[15] Christian Kracht repeats the four Brandy Alexanders motif in his 1995 novel Faserland.[16]

In Kurt Vonnegut's book, Mother Night, the protagonist suspects that an overly flattering article in the Herald Tribune about his neighbor was "written by a pansy full of Brandy Alexanders."[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Experience the Taste of Classic Style With 20 Timeless Cocktails". The Spruce Eats.
  2. ↑ "17 Delicious Cocktails That Let You Drink Dessert". The Spruce Eats.
  3. ↑ Imbibe Magazine, May/June 2010, p. 38
  4. ↑ "The Unforgettables | International Bartenders Association". Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Buller's Professional Course in Bartending For Home Study. Harvard Common Press. 16 September 1983. ISBN 9780916782337.
  6. ↑ Classic Cocktail Club, Milan, Italy.
  7. ↑ "National Brandy Alexander day". eatocracy. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "Behind the Drink: The Brandy Alexander". Liquor.com. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "When John Lennon and Harry Nilsson Got Tossed From the Troubadour for Heckling". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "The John Lennon we did not know". TODAY.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  11. 1 2 Aftab, Kaleem (20 March 2009). "The movie cocktail – what's your poison tonight?". The Independent. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Tattoo (1981) – Quotes, retrieved 29 July 2018
  13. ↑ Mason, Ian Garrick (27 April 2009). "Magnetic Suns and Moth Balls: An essay on James Gray's Two Lovers". iangarrickmason.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "The Rockford Files". 27 March 1974 – via IMDb.
  15. ↑ Waugh, Evelyn (1962) [1945]. "2". Brideshead Revisited. p. 48. ISBN 9780140008210.
  16. ↑ Faserland (1995) chapter 7
  17. ↑ Vonnegut, Kurt. Mother Night. p. 50.
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