Welcome back to Vintage Cocktail Friday! Sorry it’s been pretty spotty around here this holiday season. Who knew taking care of a baby took up so much time?
But who cares? Let’s have an Alexander!
Tom came across this cocktail recently in The Host’s Handbook, one of our little cocktail books, and he was intrigued because of the similarity to the Barbara or Russian Bear cocktail, except for the gin instead of vodka. And we had heard of Brandy Alexanders before, but had never known there was a gin version. So, of course, we had to mix this one up to see how they compared!
- 1/2 Gilby’s Gin
- 1/4 DeKruyper’s Crème de Cacao
- 1/4 sweet cream
- Add ice, shake and strain.
It also was a good way to use up the extra cream that I wasn’t able to fit into my Vincent Price Pumpkin Pies!
Yum!
“So? What do you think?”
“It’s awesome.”
The Verdict: Awesome
From The Tasting Notes –
Tastes like the Russian Bear, except the gin tastes better with the Crème de Cacao than the vodka did. Which was surprising. Actually, one of the better gin drinks we’ve made. The gin flavor is almost unnoticeable. Tom plans to drink many, many of these over Christmas!
What exactly is sweet cream? I find a lot of my old recipes call for it. Aaaaaaaand now I’m craving a Brandy Alexander. One of my favorite winter drinks mmmmmm
*want*
Mmmmmmmm, yes! I’m surprised the gin goes well with Creme de Cocoa. I drank more than my share of Brandy Alexanders, Grasshoppers, White Russians, and Black Russians back in my 20’s, which may explain how I got my ‘curvy’ figure, even today, lol!
Sweet cream is just heavy whipping cream, old recipes sometimes just called it “sweet” to differentiate it from sour cream or buttermilk.
We made Brandy Alexanders one day because they were a punchline to a joke I liked. My beer-drinking brother decided he has found his cocktail of choice. They were very, very yummy.
This reminds me of my old bartending school days (I did eventually take the “exam”), lol. Anyhow, one of the most displeasing drinks I ever made and tried from the duotang they gave us of recipes was the Pink Lady. 1oz Gin, splash of Grenadine and 3/4 cup or so of Milk, shake and pour into a martini glass.
How did Tom know if it was good when he wasn’t holding the baby? Haha! The baby makes everything better!