Brandy cocktails
Recipes for top cocktails with brandy, from the Sidecar and Sazerac to the Horse's Neck and Brandy Sour.
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When mixing drinks, most of us reach for gin, rum or whisky, and forget about brandy. But historically brandy was the original cocktail ingredient. Classic drinks like the Sazerac, Mint Julep, and Old Fashioned would have been made with brandy in their early days. Cognac especially was king in the 19th century but its preeminence among spirits was destroyed by phylloxera, the vine-eating louse that wrecked Europe’s vineyards. British drinkers switched to blended Scotch whisky and American cocktail enthusiasts switched to bourbon or rye.
Once again drinkers are beginning to appreciate the joys of mixing a good brandy. There’s a whole raft of cocktails from the Sidecar to the Vieux Carre that can only be made with Cognac or something similar.
Which brandy is best for cocktails?
Cognac and Armagnac from France are the big names in brandy. Generally when mixing it’s better to use a lighter fruitier version like a VS (minimum two years ageing) or a VSOP (minimum four.) But for very simple serves like an Old Fashioned, you might want to use something older like an XO (minimum ten years old). There are also value French brandies like St. Remy which are perfect for parties. Non-French brandies can be brilliant in cocktails too such as Brandy de Jerez from Spain with its sweet sherried profile, or Metaxa from Greece, a blend of brandy and sweet muscat wine. And finally don’t forget about apple brandies like Calvados from France. They can bring a deliciously fruity twist to the following cocktails.
The Sidecar
The Sidecar is essentially a Brandy Sour that gets its sweetening element from triple sec orange liqueur. You could make it with Grand Marnier, which is made with Cognac, for that double Cognac hit. But we’re keeping things classic with Cointreau.
Prep time:
Five minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
30ml Cognac like Remy Martin 1738
20ml of Cointreau
10ml of fresh lemon juice
Orange peel (garnish)
Method:
Add all the ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Give it a good shake, then strain into a coupe glass and garnish with an orange peel for a rich flavour or lemon peel for freshness.
The Brandy Sour
A sour requires just three ingredients: something boozy, something sweet and something sour (obviously). It’s part of a family of cocktails based on these principles that includes the Daiquiri. This very simplicity, however, means that there is no room for error. You have to get the ratio of booze, sour and sugar exactly right. You also must take care when shaking not to dilute it too much.
Prep time:
10 minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
50ml VSOP Cognac like H by Hine
15ml lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
Method:
Shake all the ingredients hard and quickly with lots of ice (you don’t want too much dilution). Double strain to remove any ice crystals into a coupe, and garnish with a slice of lemon (or you could use an orange twist or a maraschino cherry).
The Brandy & Soda
The Brandy & Soda, or B&S as it was known, was the drink of choice for the bright young things before the Second World War. We have suggested Cognac but it would be particularly nice with a young fruity Calvados and you can play around with the bitters, or leave them out entirely.
Prep time:
Five minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
50cl VS Cognac like Seignette
2 dashes Angostura orange bitters
Soda water
Orange slice (garnish)
Method:
In an ice-filled tumbler or Highball glass add the Cognac and bitters. Give it a stir, top up with soda, stir gently and garnish with a piece of orange.
The Horse's Neck
The Horse’s Neck has a long pedigree. Originally it was made without alcohol except a dash of bitters and dates back to the 1890s. It gets its name from the long strand of lemon peel curling out of the glass that apparently looks a bit like a horse’s neck. Eventually, someone had the brilliant idea of adding a spirit to it.
Prep time:
Five minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
60ml VSOP Cognac like H by Hine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Ginger ale
Method:
Fill a Highball glass with ice and add a spiral of lemon zest. Add the Cognac, bitters and ginger ale, stir, top up with ginger ale, stir gently and serve.
The Vieux Carré
Vieux Carré literally means ‘old square’ in French and refers to the French Quarter of New Orleans. It’s another variation on the Old Fashioned and was probably invented by Walter Bergeron at the Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel in the 1930s. It’s a bit of an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ drink containing both brandy and whiskey alongside vermouth, bitters and Benedictine.
Prep time:
5 minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
30ml Rye whiskey or bourbon like Woodford Reserve
30ml VSOP Cognac like H by Hine
20ml Italian vermouth like Martini Rosso
5ml Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Lemon twist (garnish)
Method:
Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
The Sazerac
A Sazerac is an Old Fashioned with a Louisiana twist. The twists are provided by absinthe and Peychaud’s Bitters, invented in 1838 by a New Orleans Apothecary named Antoine Peychaud. The cocktail was originally made with brandy and takes its name from a long-defunct brand of Cognac. It’s now usually made with rye whiskey but you can use both as we have done here.
Prep time:
10 minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
30ml VSOP Cognac like H by Hine
30ml Rye whiskey or bourbon like Woodford Reserve
Teaspoon of sugar
Tablespoon of absinthe like La Fée Parisienne Absinthe
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Method:
Coat the inside of a tumbler with the absinthe and shake it out. Then in a shaker stir together the brandy, whiskey, bitters and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add ice and stir vigorously for about 30 seconds. Strain into the absinthe coated glass and serve with a twist of lemon.
The Brandy Alexander
It might surprise you that an ‘Alexander’ is actually a type of cocktail involving a spirit, chocolate liqueur and fresh cream. Before the Brandy Alexander, there were other Alexanders such as the Gin Alexander).The Alexander in all its forms was invented some time around the 1920s and may have been named after Alexander Woollcott, drama critic of the New Yorker, or even Tsar Alexander I.
Prep time:
10 minutes
Serves one
Ingredients:
30ml Brandy like St. Remy XO
30ml whipping or heavy cream
Method:
Shake all the ingredients with ice and fine strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with some grated nutmeg or a piece of Cadbury’s flake if you’re feeling decadent.
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