Brandy Alexander

The Brandy Alexander is a creamy dessert cocktail of the Alexander family, built from Cognac, dark crème de cacao and fresh cream, shaken hard with ice and strained into a chilled cocktail glass with a dusting of grated nutmeg. It is a rich, smooth, sweet drink — pale ivory in colour and chocolate-and- brandy scented — and the brandy descendant of the original gin Alexander. Velvety and indulgent rather than sharp, it drinks more like a cold, spirituous milkshake than a bracing aperitif, and it remains the best known of the Alexander cocktails.