Alexander
Dry shake ∙ 5 min ∙ 22.1% ABV ∙
The Alexander is a shaken gin dessert cocktail made with white crème de cacao and cream, served up with a dusting of nutmeg. Rich and velvety, chocolate and cream coat the palate first, with the gin surfacing only as a faint juniper warmth behind the sweetness — best suited to a nightcap.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Dry shake all ingredients: London dry gin 45 mlWhite Crème de Cacao 20 mlSingle cream/half-and-half 20 mlEgg white 10 ml
- Shake again with ice
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with grated nutmeg
Tips
- Dry shake first without ice for 15 seconds to let the pasteurised egg white and cream emulsify, then shake again with ice for 12-15 seconds.
- Shake hard and long enough to fully chill and dilute since the cream and egg white make the mix denser than a standard sour, aim for a tight, cold, silky texture.
- Fine-strain into a chilled coupe to catch any egg foam clumps or ice shards, leaving a smooth, even layer of foam on top.
History
The Alexander is an early 20th-century cocktail originally made with gin, crème de cacao, and cream, first documented in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Its exact inventor and date remain disputed: some accounts credit bartender Troy Alexander of Rector's in New York around 1914, while others link the name to baseball pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, and no single account is definitively supported. A brandy-based version, popularized in the 1920s by bartenders such as Harry MacElhone, gradually overtook the original in popularity and eventually became known as the Brandy Alexander, a naming convention that only became standard by the mid-20th century. This version returns to the earlier gin-based build, keeping crème de cacao and cream alongside the gin rather than the brandy that later became standard.
FAQ
What is in an Alexander cocktail?
A gin Alexander is London dry gin, white crème de cacao, and cream, double shaken with a touch of egg white for a silky, stable foam and finished with grated nutmeg. It is served up in a coupe glass and comes in at about 22% ABV.
How do you make an Alexander?
Combine the gin, crème de cacao, cream, and pasteurised egg white, then double shake: once without ice to build the foam, then again with ice to chill it fully. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe and grate fresh nutmeg over the top before serving.
How do you make a Baileys Alexander cocktail?
A Baileys Alexander swaps the white crème de cacao for Baileys Irish Cream, which already carries cream and chocolate-coffee notes, so it can be made with fewer separate ingredients. This gin build keeps crème de cacao and cream as distinct components, giving a cleaner cacao flavor rather than Baileys' coffee-forward sweetness.
What is in an Alexander drink?
Gin, white crème de cacao, and cream form the core of an Alexander, with a small amount of egg white added here for texture and grated nutmeg on top as the finishing garnish.
