And 2 Drinks for Aloysius

So, after the Tootsie Roll got me in the mood for a sweet chocolate boozy buzz, I mixed up a Brandy Alexander. This time I used the E&J I'd bought the other day instead of the Courvoisier along with dark creme de cacao. But I didn't have any cream or half and half. The cats' morning evaporated milk didn't sound appealing. However, I'd just bought a bottle of Irish cream liqueur for a recipe next week. That's got cream in it; you even have to keep it in the fridge by the grenadine. And, boy, it's good! Where's it been all my life? More on my usual antipathy to things Irish another day.

Verdict: good. More mellow than when you make Alexanders with Courvoisier. And now the cream has liquor in it too. I must confess, I had to look up the proportions on wikipedia (too many drinks lately to remember how much of what each one calls for): equal brandy and creme de cacao, half that much cream, but now that the cream has buzz potential, I just used equal parts of everything.

While looking up the recipe, I read that the Brandy Alexander is the descendant of the Alexander, a similar drink but made with gin and clear creme de cacao. I wasn't sure how well juniper and chocolate go together, but, hey, I'm up to donating my taste buds to science. I was also up to a few crackers left over from the Wisconsin primary results the other night to soak up some alcohol. I'm out of Readi-Whip.

Verdict on the gin Alexander: surprisingly good. I liked it better than the brandy version. It's really smooth and not overwhelmingly sweet or chocolaty. I wonder how a little creme de menthe would go with it? Three drinks are my limit, so that's it for this afternoon. The third drink's always the best. But only if you're not extending the run to five or six.