COCKTAIL · Classic cocktails
Brandy Alexander
PUBLISHED · 19 Oct 2026
Brandy, crème de cacao and cream shaken to a velvet texture and dusted with nutmeg.
Brandy, crème de cacao and cream shaken to a velvet texture and dusted with nutmeg.
INGREDIENTS
- Cognac30 ml
- Crème de cacao30 ml
- Cream30 ml
- Nutmegto garnish
Shake the cognac, crème de cacao and cream hard with ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe and grate nutmeg over the surface.
- CREATED
- 1920s
- CREATOR
- Harry MacElhone
- STATE
- United Kingdom
- LOCATION
- London, England
The original Alexander was gin-based, but in the early 1920s Harry MacElhone, then at Ciro’s in London, is credited with swapping gin for brandy. The first recipe for the brandy version appears in his 1923 Harry of Ciro’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails. Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book lists both the gin Alexander No. 1 and the brandy Alexander No. 2.
✳Brandy Alexander