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Welcome to the Brandy Cocktail Recipe Guide

Here you will find the world’s most popular and easy to make brandy cocktails.

Brandy, but not the brandy cocktail, is widely considered a man’s drink, except maybe in Australia. Like Samuel Johnson, renowned English writer, said:

“Claret is liquor for boys, port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.”


Check out our Cocktail Mixing Guide for an explanation of the terms used to make the brandy cocktails on this page.

Brandy is a versatile base ingredient that goes well with many flavours. Cocktails with brandy can be enjoyed equally by men and women.

Each recipe gives you the ingredients, recommended glass, preparation method, garnish and in some cases comments and background on the cocktail. These are guidelines for your convenience, but Cocktail Mixing Master encourages you to experiment with ingredients, garnishes and glasses. Who knows, perhaps you invent the next world famous cocktail!

Here are the brandy cocktail recipes carefully selected by Cocktail Mixing Master:


APPLE FIZZ

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 parts apple brandy (use normal brandy if you don’t have)
5 parts carbonated apple juice (like Appletizer)
0.5 lemon juice

Glass:Highball

Preparation:Pour the ingredients into the glass and stir.

Garnish:Slice of lemon.

A variation to the carbonated apple juice is 4 parts apple juice and one part soda water.


SIDECAR

An old classic dating from World War I

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 parts brandy or Cognac
3 parts triple sec
1 part lemon or lime juice

Glass:Martini, chilled

Preparation:Shake the ingredients and strain into the glass

Garnish:Traditionally no garnish is used, but try an lemon wedge or wheel….

It’s important to get the sweet-sour balance in this one right, so do not go too wild with varying the ingredient proportions. A variation is to make it with bourbon as the base ingredient.



METROPOLITAN COCKTAIL

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 parts brandy
2 parts sweet vermouth
Sugar syrup to taste (about 0.5 teaspoon per 50 ml/ 2 Oz.)
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Glass:Martini

Preparation:Shake the ingredients and strain into the glass

Garnish:Traditionally served without garnish



ALEXANDER COCKTAIL

Also known as “Brandy Alexander”. A rich brandy cocktail!

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 parts brandy
1 part coffee liquor
1 part half and half (a mixture of half milk and half cream)

Glass:Martini, chilled

Preparation:Shake the ingredients and strain into the glass

Garnish: Nutmeg sprinkled on top

Make this cocktail even richer by replacing the half and half with cream. Other variations include using peppermint liqueur in stead of coffee liqueur.


Cocktail Manhattan


COCKTAIL MANHATTAN*

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 parts brandy
1 part sweet or dry vermouth
A dash Angostura bitters
A cocktail cherry

Glass:Martini, chilled

Preparation: Stir the liquid ingredients well and strain into the glass.

Garnish: Cocktail cherry

An easy to make brandy cocktail.



STINGER

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 parts brandy
1 part white peppermint liqueur
Mint leaves (optional)

Glass:Martini, chilled

Preparation: Shake the ice, brandy and liqueur well and strain into the glass.

Garnish: Serve ungarnished or with mint leaves

This drink has a fresh minty flavour. A nice pre-lunch or –dinner drink in summer time.



BULL’s MILK

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1.5 parts brandy
1 part milk
1 part rum (light or dark (optional)
Sugar syrup
Nutmeg
Ground cinnamon

Glass:Highball

Preparation: Shake the ice, brandy and sugar syrup well and strain into the glass.

Garnish: Sprinkle the nutmeg and cinnamon over

This cocktail can also made as a hot drink by heating the ingredients on the stove-top or in a microwave oven. (The ice is obviously not involved then). Heat until the milk nearly boils. This makes for a delicious after-dinner drink or night cap.



THE INTERNATIONAL

A truly international drink, combining ingredients from various countries.

Ingredients:
Cruched ice
2 parts brandy or cognac
0.5 part vodka
0.5 part ouzo or Sambucca
0.5 part triple sec

Glass:Cocktail, chilled

Preparation: Stir the ingredients in a bar glass with crushed ice. Strain into the glass.

Garnish: Traditionally no garnish is used, but how about a small flag from each country, which of course are…

France (brandy and triple sec), Russia (vodka) and Greece (ouzo) or Italy (Sambuca)



THE ROLLS ROYCE

There are many versions of this cocktail, even with base ingredients other than brandy. The one here is less common, but easy to make and delicious.

Ingredients:
Cruched ice
1 part brandy or cognac
1 part triple sec
1 part orange juice

Glass:Cocktail, chilled

Preparation: Shake the ingredients in a bar glass with 3 scoops crushed ice. Strain into the glass.

Garnish: Traditionally no garnish is used. Works nicely with a twist of orange.

This cocktail is quite sweet. You might want to add a dash of soda water to it.



CHARLESTON

A slightly adventurous cocktail, typically enjoyed by the ladies. A classic cocktail dating form the 1920’s.

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1 part orange liqueur (triple sec also works)
1 part cherry brandy
Lemonade to taste

Glass:Highball

Preparation: Stir the liqueur and brandy in a bar glass. Put ice in the glass and strain the cocktail into it. Top up with lemonade

Garnish: Usually none, but a twist of orange will work.



AMERICAN BEAUTY

A beautiful drink!

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1 part brandy
1 part dry vermouth
1 part orange juice
0.5 part port
0.5 part white peppermint liqueur (optional)

Glass:Martini

Preparation: Shake the ingredients and strain into the glass

Garnish: Usually none, but a twist of orange will work.

As a variation, you can float the port.


Check in frequently as we update and expand the cocktail recipes often.

Do you have a favorite cocktail to share with us? Click the 'Submit a recipe' button in the NavBar on the left.



*Cocktails marked with an * are official International Bartenders Association (IBA) cocktails. In some cases the recipes here do not correspond exactly to that of the IBA.

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