Alexander

• Spirit
• Crème de Cacao
• Cream

Originally appearing as a gin drink, it would eventually evolve into the "Brandy Alexander", with the gin variation all be disappearing. Using other spirits beyond gin and brandy never seems to have become a thing, so the "Alexander" may not technically be considered as its own category of mixed drink.

The earliest known recipe is from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks .

ALEXANDER COCKTAIL 1/3 El Bart Gin 1/3 Creme de Cocoa 1/3 Sweet Cream Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.

The cocktail, according to historian Barry Popik, was likely born at Rector’s (1899-1919), New York’s premier pre-Prohibition lobster palace. The bartender there, a certain Troy Alexander, is said to have created his eponymous concoction in order to serve a white drink at a dinner celebrating [fictional character] Phoebe Snow. Phoebe Snow was created to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad around 1900. Train travel in the day was dirty business, with travelers being covered in soot after a trip of any significant length. Lackawanna was able to prevent this by using anthracite, a cleaner-burning form of coal. They promoted this through advertising where their fictional character Phoebe Snow was always wearing a clean white dress.

An earlier form of a drink by the same name appears in “Jack’s Manual” (1910)

ALEXANDER COCKTAIL (Use bar glass.) 75% rye whiskey 25% Benedictine 1 piece of ice Twist of orange peel.     Stir and serve.