Brandy Absinthe-Xander
1 oz Copper & Kings American Brandy
1 oz Lucid Absinthe (maybe cut to 3/4 to 1/2 oz)
1 oz Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur (maybe cut to 3/4 to 1/2 oz)
1 oz Cream (Cashew Milk)
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled Coupe. Garnish with some ground Nutmeg.
The original Alexander Cocktail was a drink made of Gin, White Crème de Cacao and Cream and it gave birth to a wide range of other drinks such as the White Russian, Grasshopper, and of course, the Brandy Alexander. Ratio preferences and variations abound with the Brandy Alexander, but it’s a tried and true classic. That’s why today, January 31, is Brandy Alexander Day.
As a way to make my own variation of this, and to keep with the plan to integrate Absinthe into as many of the drinks of the Drinking Holidays as possible, I came up with this. I was considering making just an Absinthe Alexander, which I still may do, but this Drinking Holiday is for the Brandy Alexander so I wanted to keep the Brandy.
The very first version I made used 1 ½ oz Brandy, ¾ oz of Godiva and a heavy barspoon (~¼ oz) Absinthe but it turned out to be boring as fuck. I’m really not sure why I thought the ratios would work but the ounce of Cream (Cashew Milk) just muted all of the flavor. By cranking everything up to even ounces, it brought out the uniqueness of this variation. That said, it’s a bit overbearing. maybe a cut to ½ oz Absinthe + ½ oz Godiva would’ve worked better.
Besides adding the Absinthe, the only real bit of Alexander cocktail blaspheme committed here was using Godiva over Crème de Cacau. Since this drink isn’t a “true” Alexander, if there is such a thing, it doesn’t really excite my cocktail naming convention OCD by switching out a defining ingredient to use something else similar. I did this for a few reasons…
First, and most importantly, Dark Chocolate goes very well with Absinthe, at least outside of the glass. While Crème de Cacau which is generally used to add just a hint of chocolate flavor in Alexanders, the Godiva is a much creamier and chocolatier Liqueur. This now turns this drink into even more of a dessert cocktail than an original Brandy Alexander is. I kinda like it better, though it is an odd flavor combo that could really use much more experimentation from someone who likes cream drinks more than I. Lastly, I used Godiva because, well, I had a bottle here at Green Jenkin’s Walk in Closet Home Bar and I didn’t feel like picking up any Crème de Cacau.
Maybe when I come up with whatever I’ll call my standard Absinthe-Xander, I’ll try making it both with Godiva and some actual Creme de Cacau to see how well each one works.
