Brandy Alexander, A Favorite of Mine

This cocktail is well known from a variety of sources, but the 1962 movie, "The Days of Wine and Roses," starring Jack Lemon and Lee Remick, gave it a real boost. Back in the mid 1980s, I would go to John Q's Steakhouse, near Public Square here in Cleveland, and the bartender, Jim, fixed my Brandy Alexanders with ice cream. I haven't seen him for many years, but I hope he is well.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces brandy
1 1/2 ounces dark Creme de Cacao
3 ounces cream or vanilla ice cream (better)

nutmeg

If using cream, shake with ice and strain into a chilled glass, sprinkle nutmeg on top. For ice cream, blend ingredients, pour into a chilled glass and dust with nutmeg.

WORD HISTORY:
Brandy-This is a shortened form of the original "brandywine," which was borrowed from Dutch "brandewijn," literally, "burned or distilled wine,"  as it was distilled from wine into a stronger alcoholic drink (other fruit juices or grains with an alcohol content were also used). The shortened form "brandy" is from Dutch "branden," a cousin of English "burn," which goes back to Indo European "bhrenu," from the root "bhreu," which had the notion, "well up, boil up." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "brennanan," meaning "to burn," from the notion of "fire welling up." In English the "r" and vowel sounds were transposed, called,"metathesis," which also took place in other Germanic dialects and languages, including Dutch, which once had "bernen," but then went to the "r" before the vowel circa 1300 (perhaps by influence from German?).  

German has both "Branntwein" and "Weinbrand," with the latter meaning more specifically, "cognac," made from grapes, also at times spelled, "Kognac," in German, but German also borrowed the English word "Brandy," now a pretty common form. Swiss German dialect also uses, "Gebrannte Wasser," meaning "burned water," which puts it in the same category as English slang, "firewater" ( German slang also has "Feuerwasser," ="firewater")