Brandy Flip

A flip is a dessert drink that takes any spirit and shakes it up with a whole egg, sugar, and cream and is topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg. The Brandy Flip, by nature of its being a primogenitor of early Industrial Era spirits, is likely to be the first kind of flip--unless you count sherry or porto. Let's say that this drink goes way back to the first mixing of distilled spirits with eggs, sometime in the early 1700s.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1 whole egg
• 1 tbsp. half-and-half
• 1 tsp. sugar
• fresh ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with sprinkles of nutmeg.

Brandy Alexander

This is the most common cocktail of the Alexander family of dessert drinks, the original Alexander being made with gin. It is an easy recipe to remember because it is equal parts brandy, chocolate liqueur and half-and-half and topped with nutmeg sprinkles.

I'm making this Brandy Alexander very American by using east coast ingredients: namely, the Copper & Kings brandy and MurLarkey chocolate whiskey. As I often state with MurLarkey flavored whiskeys, there is no sugar. If you want your drink to be sweet, and you do with the Alexander drinks, you have to add sugar.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Copper & Kings used)
• 1 1/2 oz. dark creme de cacao (MurLarkey coco whiskey and 1 tsp. sugar)
• 1 1/2 oz. half-and-half
• freshly grated nutmeg

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. 

Kahlua Toreador

The original Toreador is a blended dessert drink made with tequila. It's pretty amazing in itself if you go all out with whipped cream and cinnamon.

This Toreador is more of an excuse to make a coffee flavored cocktail that's strong and slightly sweet. Not quite a dessert drink. Gone is the cream, whipped or otherwise, and in the place of Tequila, there's Kahlua. Holding it all together is a half of an egg white.

In place of Kahlua, I used a combination of MurLarkey coffee whiskey and sugar syrup to sweeten this liquor to the level of Kaluah. Copper and Kings brandy was also a good choice for this cocktail for its strength. You can't make a Toreador without something stronger than coffee liqueur at it center.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1 oz. Kahlua (1 oz. MurLarkey Coffee Whiskey and 1/2 tsp. sugar used)
• 1/2 egg white

Combine all ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Egg Sour

The whole egg sour recipe in the New York Bartender's Guide is a brandy drink. Go figure. I'm finding that egg and brandy drinks are great if you use Copper and Kings brandy, which is strong and clean tasting. That's useful when the rest of the cocktail is so rich.

The fun thing about a whole egg sour is that it is so rich and creamy as well as tart. This is an egg cocktail lover's drink. Of course freshness of ingredients really counts here. For the drink and the photo I used Andean blue eggs. You can almost see the blue tint of the shell. But a fresh and healthy chicken egg makes a big difference when a raw egg is the main ingredient in a drink.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Cointreau
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• whole egg

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled sour glass. 

Thunder Cocktai

This is an incredible recipe. I mean that if you see it written out you won't believe it. Tasting is believing though. This is a brandy cocktail with egg yolk and cayenne pepper. It is sweet and spicy and not at all what you'd expect.

I tried it out with Copper and Kings American brandy aged in bourbon barrels, and it worked very well. I attribute the success to Copper and King's being a dry and stronger then average brandy. Keep in mind that it is a grape spirit that gets most of its flavor from barrel aging.

The result is a drink that creates a sweet suspension with egg yolk--which when sweetened comes across as creamy. The chili was hot! I recommend using cayenne pepper and not just any powdered chili. The finer the grind, the better.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.