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 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[1]. 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. [2]
The earliest known recipe is from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks [3].
ALEXANDER COCKTAIL 1/3 El Bart Gin |
An earlier form of a drink by the same name appears in “Jack’s Manual” (1910)[4]
ALEXANDER COCKTAIL (Use bar glass.)25% Benedictine 1 piece of ice Twist of orange peel. Stir and serve. |
References
- ↑ Behind the Drink: Brandy Alexander, by Gary Regan (Liquor.com)
- ↑ Phoebe Snow (Wikipedia)
- ↑ Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Ensslin (1917, second edition)
- ↑ Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910)
