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B and B

Classic/vintage · Nightcap/sipping · Spirit-forward

4.0 79 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/3 oz Cognac (brandy)
5/6 oz Bénédictine D.O.M.

How to make

Serve in a old-fashioned glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour profile

31.5% alc./vol. · 1.5 standard drinks

History

Honeyed and spiced brandy. Traditionally mixed in equal parts, but a drier version with more brandy than Bénédictine is preferred. Dilution will occur with ice, but some may wish to add 10ml (1/3oz) or more chilled water before mixing.

Bénédictine and brandy have a long history of being mixed, with the combination first appearing in cocktail books in the early 1900s as a pousse-café. This layered cocktail featured brandy floated over the liqueur. BENEDICTINE AND BRANDY Use cordial glass. Put in two-thirds Benedictine, Float one-third Brandy on top carefully so as not to mix them. Serve. However, popular culture suggests the B&B was created "in the 1930s during Prohibition" or more specifically in 1937 by a bartender at New York's famous 21 Club. (U.S. Prohibition ended 5th December 1933). While the exact time and place where brandy was first mixed with Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur in America is uncertain, its popularity is not in doubt. Such was the demand for this cocktail that in 1937/8, Le Palais Bénédictine began producing a bottled blend of 60% Bénédictine and 40% French brandy for sale in the USA under the name Bénédictine B&B. To this day, sales of B&B in the USA surpass sales of the original Bénédictine D.O.M., which is used in this cocktail.