Alexander (cocktail)

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Brandy Alexander straining from a three-part cocktail shaker . Instead of a cocktail bowl, it is served in a martini glass.

The Alexander is an alcoholic cream cocktail and, as a digestif, belongs to the after-dinner drinks, i.e. alcoholic short drinks that are often enjoyed after dinner. The variant, also known as Brandy Alexander (more rarely Alexander II ), with brandy instead of gin , as originally used, is particularly popular .

history

The cocktail was created at the beginning of the 20th century, one of the earliest sources is the self-published collection Recipes for Mixed Drinks, published in 1916 by the New York bartender Hugo Ensslin :

“ Alexander Cocktail: ⅓ El Bart Gin, ⅓ Crême de Cocoa [sic!], ⅓ Sweet Cream. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain, and serve. "

“Alexander Cocktail: ⅓ Gin [Note: the El Bart brand has not been available for a long time], ⅓ Crème de Cacao, ⅓ Sweet cream. Shake well in a mixing glass with pieces of ice, strain and serve. "

- Hugo R. Ensslin : Recipes for Mixed Drinks, 1916

A similar recipe is said to be in a book from 1914. The cocktail spread rapidly in the 1920s and 1930s and is featured in numerous recipe collections from that time. Contributing to its success was the fact that during the prohibition in the United States (1919–1933) only mixed-up alcohol of inferior quality was often available (so-called bathtub gin , ie home-made "bathtub gin"). Cream and cocoa liqueur in the Alexander Cocktail have now proven to be very suitable ingredients to hide the inadequate taste of bad gins.

The variant with brandy ( brandy ) or cognac instead of gin, which is much better known today , came about later - an early source is Harry MacElhone's Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails (1922) - and was initially distributed in Europe.

preparation

Traditionally, the Alexander consists of equal proportions (e.g. 2–3  cl ) of gin or brandy , crème de cacao (cocoa liqueur ) and sweet cream, with white (clear) cocoa liqueur being preferred with gin and browner with brandy , as in the recipe of the International Bartenders Association , which has the cocktail on their list of Official IBA Cocktails . In modern bar books the proportions are often varied, so the Mixbook Cocktailian recommends two parts of brandy and one part each of crème de cacao (brown) and cream, and Charles Schumann 3 cl gin or brandy, 2 cl crème de cacao and 4 cl cream. In any case, the liquid ingredients are shaken on ice in the shaker and then strained without ice (“straight up”) into a cocktail bowl that is as pre-chilled as possible . Finally rub some fresh nutmeg over it.

In other versions, the basic spirit is replaced (e.g. aged rum instead of brandy) or a creamy chocolate liqueur is used instead of crème de cacao.

literature

  • Helmut Adam, Jens Hasenbein, Bastian Heuser: Cocktailian. The bar's manual . Tre Torri, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-941641-41-9 , p. 211.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugo R. Ensslin: Recipes for Mixed Drinks . Fox Printing House, New York 1916-1917. Quoted from: Facsimile reprint of the extended 2nd edition from 1917, with a foreword by David Wondrich. Mud Puddle Books, New York 2009, ISBN 978-1-60311-190-4 .
  2. ↑ Brandy Alexander I Updated (English language blog) with reference to Harry Montague, (anon.): New Bartenderʼs Guide & The Up-to-Date Bartendersʼ Guide . I & M Ottenheimer, 1914.
  3. ↑ Official IBA Cocktails Official cocktails of the International Bartenders Association with recipes, accessed January 31, 2012.
  4. ^ Cocktailian, p. 211.
  5. ^ Charles Schumann: Schumann's Bar. 1st edition. Collection Rolf Heyne, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-89910-416-5 , p. 30.