Brandy Cocktail

Name: Brandy Cocktail
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Cognac (brandy) — 60 ml (2 oz); Orange curaçao liqueur — 10 ml (1/3 oz); Sugar syrup (2:1) — 5 ml (1/6 oz); Boker’s bitters — 2 dashes

Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 28.9% ABV ∙

The Brandy Cocktail is a stirred spirit-forward drink of Cognac, orange curaçao, sugar syrup, and bitters, served up with a lemon twist.

Ingredients

Servings

Garnish

Lemon twist

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Stir all ingredients with ice: Cognac 60 mlOrange curaçao liqueur 10 mlSugar syrup 5 mlBoker’s bitters 2 dashes
Fine strain into the chilled glass
Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish

Tips

Stir with large cubes for 20-25 seconds, enough to chill the cognac and take the edge off it.
The curaçao is 10 ml and the syrup just 5 ml; pour either one heavy and the drink goes sweet while the cognac fades.

History

The Brandy Cocktail belongs to the earliest documented family of American mixed drinks built on the original 1806 definition of a "cocktail": spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, first printed on May 13, 1806 in The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York. Brandy was one of the base spirits used from the start alongside gin and whiskey.

The drink appears in print by name in Jerry Thomas's 1862 guide How to Mix Drinks, where it is built with gum syrup, bitters, and a dash of curaçao, finished with a lemon peel. Thomas's recipe calls for "Bogart's bitters," a name now believed to be a publisher's misprint for Boker's Bitters, the leading aromatic bitters brand of the era; later editions of the guide correct it to Boker's.

In 1876, Thomas's updated edition added an "Improved Brandy Cocktail," folding in maraschino liqueur and a dash of absinthe as a fancier variation on the original simple build.

FAQ

How do you make a Brandy Cocktail?

Stir 60 ml Cognac, 10 ml orange curaçao, 5 ml sugar syrup, and 2 dashes of Boker’s bitters with ice. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a lemon twist.

What is in a Brandy Cocktail?

Cognac, orange curaçao, sugar syrup, and Boker’s bitters. The curaçao and syrup soften the brandy, and the bitters add a dry, aromatic edge.

Is a Brandy Cocktail shaken or stirred?

Stirred. There is no citrus juice to aerate, so stirring chills and dilutes the Cognac gently while keeping the drink clear.

What glass is a Brandy Cocktail served in?

A coupe glass, served up with a lemon twist; the drink is fine-strained so no ice reaches the glass.