Brandy for Cocktails

[J_Ozzy]

Hello all,

I've just recently finished off a bottle of VS cognac I was using for Sidecars, East India's and Millenium cocktails. I am satisfied with the cognac's performance, but its price, at least here in Ontario, has become too prohibitive for me to continue mixing with it. So, what sort of brandy do you use when it's called for in a drink? Do you go with a value brand like Chemineau? something a bit more expensive like Dujardin VSOP?

I'm on firm ground for sipping brandy/cognacs (I've got a great bottle of Delamain going right now), but I'm at a loss when it comes to a decent mixing brand.

[slkinsey]

One of the great things about cognac drinks like the Sidecar is the luxuriousness of using good cognac. Courvoisier VS, Hennessy VS and Martell VS can usually be had for around $35 a liter, and are excellent in cocktails. For a brandy that has fine VSOP cognac characteristics but isn't too expensive, $35 will get you 750 ml of Germain-Robin Fine Alembic Brandy.

[eje]

I bought the Germain-Robin fine Alambic Brandy for mixing after reading an article about them in our local paper.

Since then, I've tried a few more well known French Cognacs, and I have to say, for the money, you can't do much better than the Germain-Robin. It really is a smooth wonderful brandy.

I'm also curious about Jepson's Rare Alambic brandy; but, haven't made enough sidecars yet to justify having another brand under the bar.

-Erik

Edited September 24, 2005 by eje (log)

[Alchemist]

If you like the sidecar, and are looking for some thing with a little more oomph, give the ( pardon my french) Champs Elyesse. A killer winter cocktail.

2 Oz. Cognac

.75 Oz lemon juice

.75 oz simple (You can go closer to .70)

barspoon of green Chartruse

1 dash Bitters (I like the Peychaud, and since the name is french, because It mirrors the anise in the Chartruse, but I belive Angostura is classic)

Serve like a Sidecar, no sugar, flame that orange twist and give a little Haleluya for thoes crazy Carthusian Monks

[Jason Perlow]

For stingers I use the basic level Pierre Ferrand. At that price point, you're getting a good brandy that is drinkable on its lonesome AND you don't have to feel bad about using as a mixer.

And if it doesn't have to be French, theres absolutely nothing wrong with using a Spanish Brandy either. Just don't use a Solera Grand Reserva, use a Reserva, they are about 10 or 20 bucks cheaper. I'd go with one of the lower end Domecq ones, like Azteca de Oro, which is made in the Spanish style of a Solera Grand Reserva, but in Mexico. If you want to try a new twist on Spanish Brandies, Uno En Mil, which is made by Sanchez Romate, the same people that make Cardenal Mendoza ($50 per bottle, definitely not a mixer) is great as a sipper as well as a mixer, at a much lower price point.

Alize isnt bad either as a mixer.

[J_Ozzy]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far (the Champs Elysée sounds delicious).

It turns out that I'm getting someting wholely unsuited for mixing ... to use as a mixer. I managed to snag a magnum of Hennessy XO at the local price of VS cognac, so I'll be "wasting" it (I know, I know) in cocktails for quite some time to come.

For making fruit cordials, my family has been using Dujardin VSOP, a German brand I mentioned upthread, for several years. I think it's a great brandy for infusing, if anyone is looking for such a recommendation.

Edited October 3, 2005 by J_Ozzy (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have not had grape brandy in house for years, but I am looking to acquire a bottle primarily for making mixed drinks, such as the Sidecar. But I want something that would not kill me to drink it straight. I've never been much of a Cognac girl. I prefer Armagnac for drinking neat, but have no experience with making mixed brandy drinks of any sort, with the possible exception of eggnog.. Would not-too-expensive Amagnac work in place of Cognac for, say, a Sidecar?

Would I be better off buying a less expensive Cognac just for mixed drinks? (That would not be my choice, I am just asking.)

Thanks!

[Hassouni]

I've used Landy VS and other VSes with good results. Landy is usually around $20, sometimes the "name brands" (Courvoisier, Hennessey, Remy Martin) are discounted to near that.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have very limited selection. I can get the name brands and that is about it for Cognac on the shelf. Although I can special order. What about Armagnac, though, for mixed drinks?

[ChrisTaylor]

Why not a cognac from one of the smaller houses like Jean-Luc Pasquet? If I can get it in Australia I reckon you can get it a lot of other places. It's very good and it's very reasonably priced. I've owned, at various points, bottles of the XO and the VS. I happily take them straight or use them in brandy-based cocktails. I have some Spanish brandy floating around, too. I must admit I've only used it in a couple of cocktails that call for it specifically. I've yet to experiment with it in a Sidecar or anything like that. I reckon it might worth. It's a fair bit rougher than the cognac but, hey, many brandies are.

[haresfur]

I don't have Chris' aristocratic tastes so I tend to use generic French VSOP brandy in cocktails. Particularly for sours, I'm not too sure you want something too refined (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). The trouble is that there seems to be a fair bit of variation so some experimenting may be needed. Right now I have a bottle of Chatelle VSOP that I picked up at Costco in Melbourne and I'm happy enough with it. I save the Cognac for sipping.

[slkinsey]

Martin Doudoroff and I did a series of tests using cognac in cocktails a few years back. Our main result was that proof is king. The higher proof cognacs (Louis Royer Force 53 at 106 proof and Pierre Ferand 1840 at 90 proof) were consistently better in cocktails than any of the lower proof cognacs -- even those at borderline too-expensive-for-cocktails prices. We even did some experiments diluting Force 53 and PF 1840 down to 80 proof and then comparing those versions against the original proofs in cocktails. The higher proof cognacs won every time.

These cognacs are not cheap but they're not exactly expensive either, usually coming in around 40 bucks a bottle. Unless I'm making a very large batch of punch, these are the only cognacs I use for cocktails now.

Edited November 16, 2013 by slkinsey (log)

[rotuts]

"" What about Armagnac, though, for mixed drinks ""

there is a lot less Armagnac made than Cognac. so Im betting that grade for grade the A will cost more than the C

I also am guessing that the subtleties of the A will be lost in the mixed drink. you might be able to tell the dif. of an A vs C cocktail side-by-side, but perhaps not one by one if you get my drift.

Im a big fan of the A. but the cheaper stuff is pretty rough compared with a similar grade of C

FD: the only mixed drink I became a student of was the daiquiri. back in the day when St.James was $ 5 a bottle as was barbancourt 5 star. those made a very big difference but the D. is a fairly simple drink

Edited November 16, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

I don't have Chris' aristocratic tastes so I tend to use generic French VSOP brandy in cocktails. Particularly for sours, I'm not too sure you want something too refined (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). The trouble is that there seems to be a fair bit of variation so some experimenting may be needed. Right now I have a bottle of Chatelle VSOP that I picked up at Costco in Melbourne and I'm happy enough with it. I save the Cognac for sipping.

I reckon it works. And I reckon you're right about wanting a rougher brandy--not that your stuff is the sort of thing a pirate surgeon would use to clean graffiti off his fingernails--being well-suited to going toe-to-toe with citrus juice. Lemon juice will knock the shit out of anything more refined. It's like cooking with a $100 bottle of Burgundy.