Drinks to Warm Your Blood

Cold outside? These tasty drinks are a sure bet to warm your innards. Here's a couple of cocktails that are perfect on a cold night and though their sweetness makes for terrific after dinner drinks, they could certainly be enjoyed at any time. (Well, maybe not for breakfast.)

Let's start off with the noble Alexander and its cousin the Brandy Alexander. Well, "royal" may be a better word for this cocktail as there are those who say the original Alexander cocktail was named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Now this may be, but both the Alexander and the Brandy Alexander became very popular, particularly in the USA, during the Jazz Age of the 20's and 30's. And since the Tsar met his untimely end to an assassin's bomb in 1881, I am having trouble finding the connection. Also, the original Alexander cocktail used gin as its base, not vodka, so it's tough to see how it could have originated in Russia.

More likely, the Alexander got its origin from a bartender named Troy Alexander who served drinks at the Rector, a popular NYC restaurant before prohibition. The story goes that the restaurant was having a dinner commemorating "Phoebe Snow," not the popular 70's songstress but rather a character, a young New York Socialite always dressed in white, used to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. For the occasion, Troy came up with a white cocktail mixing gin, crème de cacao and sweet cream and the concoction quickly became a hit and named after its creator.

Alexander Cocktail

-1 1/2 oz. Dry Gin
-3/4 oz. Creme de Cacao
-3/4 oz. Cream

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Like all cocktails with cream, shake this one like you mean it. It's important to get a lot of air in there to give the drink its creaminess. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cocoa or nutmeg.

Brandy Alexander

-1 oz. Cream
-1 oz. dark Creme de Cacao
-1 oz. Brandy
-Ground nutmeg for garnish

Preparation for the Brandy Alexander is the same as above.

Now, I have never been a huge fan of cocktails with cream in them but using either gin (have I mentioned that I like gin?) or brandy, gives these a complexity and balance that really does work.

For those of you who want like a similar cocktail that more celebrates the season and are looking for something interesting to do with eggnog, try the White Christmas Cocktail.

-4 oz. Eggnog
-1/2 oz. White chocolate liqueur
-1 oz. Southern Comfort
-Edible gold flakes or chocolate flakes for garnish

Build the ingredients into a snifter glass and stir lightly. Sprinkle gold or chocolate flakes on top.

Lastly, if you really need to warm yourself up quick this holiday season, and want to dispense with sweet stuff, then let me introduce you to the Three Wise Men.

-1/2 oz. Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky
-1/2 oz. Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey
-1/2 oz. Jim Beam Bourbon

You can make a shot of this by shaking with ice and straining into a shot glass. But for easy sipping, build in a rocks glass with just a little ice. Guaranteed to warm you whether you're naughty or nice!