Friday Happy Hour: Alexander

An Alexander is another of those guilty drinks we love so much here at Rogers Park Retro. It's creamy, light, and indulgent. There are a few fundamentals we need to establish, though. First: this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Second: this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Third: even though a lot of old watering holes do it, this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Having established that, let's have fun! Here are some recipes from Oscar Haimo:

There are two popular versions for the Alexander -- one with gin and the other with brandy. Usually, the gin version is the "Alexander" and the brandy version is a "Brandy Alexander." But, with either of these, the formula is pretty easy (and easy going down): cream, creme de cacao, and gin or brandy. Here, as you can see, he calls for twice as much spirit as the liqueur, and only a dab of cream. The proportions are slightly different here:

Our formula at Rogers Park Retro is the 2:1:1 proportions they have here. To make it slightly less boozy, you can do a 1:1:1 ratio, as they do here:

And, we do need to add that the traditional garnish for this drink (gin or brandy) is a dash of grated nutmeg on the top. Aromatic, refreshing, and beautiful. Here is a little lore about the Alexander from "Famous New Orleans Drinks (and how to mix 'em)":

Well, after reading that, we feel like we've just be regaled by a Kentucky Colonel cum New Orleans bartender. Note that they include an egg white, which is a different twist, but worth experimenting with. But, "simply de-lovely" indeed!

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: hits for your after dinner enjoyment

With smiles and everyone in high spirits, it's obvious that this has been a successful evening.

As a capper, why not enjoy a dessert-in-a-drink?

This comes to us from another Southern Comfort booklet, this one published in 1967 and entitled "The Lively Life." Well, this picture proves their point!

We'll drink to that!

Friday Happy Hour: a toast to George & Ethel

Not long ago, we were at an estate sale and came across an old cocktail recipe booklet. These are always fun to add to the collection of cocktail and happy hour paraphernalia. This one was published in 1953.









This is the same booklet from which we drew the "Happy Birthday" drink post featured recently.

This particular booklet had a special surprise, though, because tucked into it was a small piece of paper reading .....
















Probably family friends? A couple that came over for canasta or bridge? This estate sale happened to be a family-run sale, and we were almost tempted to ask them if they knew who George and Ethel were. But, we didn't want to take the chance that someone might get suddenly sentimental and tell us, "oh, that's not for sale." On the other hand, maybe we could have gotten a good story. Well, we'll have to imagine.

On the other side was the recipe:

I can picture Ethel drinking this, but George? This is one of those "nips from Grandma's liquor cabinet" we've featured from time to time.

It's a Brandy Alexander.

I like that they were brand loyal on the creme de cacao (DuBouchett) but went their own way on the brandy.

"What'll you have, George and Ethel?"

"Make it the usual"

Here's to you, George and Ethel!