The oldest base of all
Brandy cocktails
Before whiskey took over, this is what cocktails were made of. Brandy drinks are the deepest cut of the canon, and the category most people own a bottle of without ever mixing with it.
7
Recipes here
4
Guides to go with them
What you are buying
Brandy is distilled wine. Cognac is brandy from the Cognac region of France, made under tight rules, and it is what nearly every classic in this list was written for — fruit, oak and a soft roundness that sits somewhere between whiskey and rum.
The age marks are worth knowing because they are the only reliable thing on the label. VS is the youngest, VSOP is a step up and is the sweet spot for mixing, and XO is old enough that mixing it into a sour is an expensive way to hide it.
Why these drinks fell out of fashion
Phylloxera. The vine blight of the late nineteenth century wrecked French brandy production, the bars of the era switched to whiskey and rum to keep serving, and the habit stuck for a century. The recipes never stopped being good — they just stopped being poured.
Which is the argument for making one tonight. These are some of the oldest drinks anyone still makes, and they taste like it in the best sense: sweeter, softer and more perfumed than the whiskey drinks that replaced them.
Make the other half yourself
The syrups these drinks keep asking for
Asked and answered
Questions, answered
- Is cognac the same as brandy?
- All cognac is brandy; almost no brandy is cognac. Cognac is made from specific grapes in a specific part of France under strict rules. Brandy is the whole category of distilled wine, made anywhere, to any standard.
- What cognac should I buy for cocktails?
- A VSOP. VS is usually a bit thin once it meets citrus and sugar, and XO is too good to mix — you are paying for age that the other ingredients will bury. VSOP is the one that earns its place behind a home bar.
- Can I use brandy instead of cognac?
- Yes. A decent brandy or an armagnac will make every drink here. Armagnac is rougher and more rustic, which suits these old recipes; other brandies are often sweeter, so pull the sugar back slightly and taste.
The bartender’s note
One drink, one story, one bottle worth buying.
Thursday evening, so you have time to shop. No more than that.