When I was in college at The George Washington University, we had a center playing for my school’s basketball team named Alexander Koul. He was enormous and Russian, and folks called him Sasha, because Russians do that. I’ve been thinking about Alexander lately because I’m headed back east next week and I’m going to be spending some time with old college friends and watching a game on TV (both our men’s and women’s teams are out of town that week–I planned badly) and I’m sure we’ll be talking about our college days.

So, I was trying to figure out what my next Cocktail with the Cult would be, and I’m really into old-timey cocktails because I wish I was a hipster. So I was looking at the list of classic cocktails on the website of the International Bartenders Association, and lo and behold, the first one on the list is a cocktail called the Alexander. And I thought, “Brandy Alexander, blech” but it turns out, the plain old Alexander is not made with brandy, it’s made with cognac. Which I happen to have in my liquor cabinet because I use it to bake these muffins. Which would be DELICIOUS with this drink.

Thus, I bring you, the Alexander.

1 part cognac
1 part creme de cacao
1 part creme

Shake over ice, strain into a glass.

Holy moly, that’s strong. But also so tasty–definitely a good sipping beverage with those muffins, or really with any dessert. Cheers!