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The Brandy Alexander is a retro cocktail found on many restaurant menus across the Midwest. Decadent and creamy with notes of warming brandy and sweet cacao it’s a great after dinner drink recipe that is as easy to enjoy as it is to make!

An overhead view of a glass filled with brandy alexander.

Three ingredients and a cocktail shaker (or mason jar!) are all you need to enjoy this creamy, dreamy digestif (that means after dinner drink). You’ll feel like a Supper Club opened right in your own kitchen!

A hand pours brandy alexander from a cocktail shaker into a coupe glass.

We love a brandy cocktail around these parts. And around all of Wisconsin, actually! If you do too, be sure to check out my guide to the Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned and my grandma’s Brandy Slush Recipe that we’ve been enjoying in my family for decades!

A coupe glass filled with brandy alexander resting on a white marble coaster and a silver tray. In the background there is a second glass of brandy alexander and a jar of heavy cream.

Ingredients for a brandy alexander

Brandy – In our house it’s Korbel and always Korbel.
Crème de Cacao – Provides a deep and rich chocolate flavor without adding too much sweetness.
Heavy Cream – Heavy cream makes this digestif creamy and velvety. So good!
Nutmeg – A dusting of freshly grated nutmeg provides a delightful aromatic note to the drink. (Though if you don't have it, that's ok!)

A Brandy Alexander shares a lot of qualities with a Pink Squirrel including the use of crème de cacao, heavy cream, and a garnish of nutmeg. So, if you enjoy this delightful drink be sure to check out its rosy-hued friend!

A coupe glass with brandy alexander inside. The glass sits on a white marble coaster on a silver tray. In the background you can see a second glass filled with a brandy alexander and a small jar of heavy cream.

Brandy Alexander recipe

This is just a brief overview, more detailed instructions are provided in the recipe card below!

Add the brandy and crème de cacao to a cocktail shaker. That’s been filled with ice.
Add in the heavy cream. This cocktail feels so decadent with only three ingredients.
Shake the cocktail. Either in your favorite cocktail shaker or a mason jar with a leakproof lid.
Strain and serve. In a coupe glass with a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg.

Add the brandy to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

Converting ounces to tablespoons

Not everyone has a cocktail jigger (that’s the fancy double-ended metal contraption bartenders use to measure out ingredients), but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying great Supper Club-quality cocktails at home.

Here’s a very easy conversion to remember when it comes to making cocktails at home: 1 fluid ounce = 2 tablespoons

An overhead view of two coupe glasses of brandy alexander sitting on a silver tray.

How long to shake a cocktail?

New to making your own craft cocktails at home and need a little guidance on how much shaking is appropriate?

Whether you’re making this recipe or enjoying a Lillet Rose Martini the best rule of thumb for shaken cocktails is to shake it until the shaker is “iced over” or has a thin layer of condensation on the outside.

A glass filled with brandy alexander. The glass is sitting on a white marble coaster on a silver tray.

This usually takes about 10 – 20 seconds and is a quintessential step in getting that “craft cocktail bar” taste right in your own home.

This amount of time not only properly chills the drink, but can help to create the foam you’re looking for on other drinks like a pumpkin spice espresso martini or raspberry gin fizz.

A hand places the lid on a mason jar cocktail shaker filled with brandy alexander.

Speaking of cocktail shakers…

Making a cocktail in a mason jar

Not everyone has a cocktail shaker. Or, the shaker might leak, or break, or any number of things. So what’s the solution to this common cocktail problem?

Use a mason jar and a leakproof lid as a makeshift cocktail shaker!

We have a lot of mason jars from all the canning we do and leakproof lids can be found on Amazon or stores like Target.

When straining the cocktail you can either use a small fine mesh sieve set over the glass or a regular cocktail strainer set into the jar. It really works!

A hand pours brandy alexander out of a cocktail shaker into a coupe glass. The glass rests on a white marble coaster on a silver tray.

Watch the recipe video!

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