The Amarula Brandy Alexander is a creamy, caramel after-dinner drink made with South Africa’s signature liqueur. This is a South African cocktail recipe you’ll want to add to your to-try list!
About this Amarula Brandy Alexander Cocktail recipe
Ever since I started sharing cocktails on Feast + West (which was pretty much the same time I started the blog, to be honest) I’ve wanted to share drink recipes that are inspired by places I’ve been.
There’s one place I’ve visited a lot that seems to have missed my cocktail rounds: South Africa, my mom’s home country. I’ve been a number of times to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and even my sister lived there for a time. I’ve shared my family recipes for milk tart and pannekoek. And yet somehow, I have no South African cocktail recipes on my site?!
I’m stepping up my game and raise you the Amarula Brandy Alexander cocktail. Cocktails aren’t a major part of everyday South African dining. A spritzer before a meal is common, but most enjoy wine, the national specialty, with their meals. After dinner or with dessert is a nightcap, usually a creamy liqueur like Baileys or Amarula, neat or on the rocks.
All about Amarula
Amarula is a cream liqueur made from cream, brandy and the Marula fruit. There’s an elephant on the label to honor the animal’s love for this fruit. Once a year when the Marula trees’ yellow fruit is ripe, the elephants travel for miles to get a taste.
The creamy liqueur has a slightly fruity, caramel-like flavor, and it’s wonderful to sip on its own or over ice.
I almost always have a bottle of Amarula in our sideboard for just that reason, but it makes a great cocktail, too. Take this Amarula spin on the classic Brandy Alexander for example!
Ingredients
An artist I love, Feist, has a song of the same name. The Brandy Alexander song has a catchy tune, and at some point I Googled the lyrics to learn that a Brandy Alexander is actually a drink not a person!
I tried one a few years ago in a frou-frou cocktail bar in Raleigh and fell in love. For this version I decided to sub Amarula for the crème de cacao that’s normally used in a Brandy Alexander. The result is a smooth South African cocktail with a hint of fruity caramel. This after-dinner drink is totally worth snagging a bottle the next time you see it at the liquor store!
The Brandy Alexander also contains brandy, of course, which brings a fruity, wine-like flavor to the base. A classic brandy alexander calls for a smooth, approachable brandy — nothing too bold or heavily oaked. Look for a VS or VSOP style, which blends easily with cream and liqueur while still bringing that signature brandy warmth. (My grandfather always had brandy in his liquor cabinet!)
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The whole drink is shaken with heavy cream, which gives it a thick, frothy texture, and is topped with a sprinkle of freshly-grated nutmeg. You can make it lighter with half and half or even whole milk or a non-dairy milk, but it won’t be as thick as when made with heavy cream.
Very nice! Depending on your taste, try adding 1 ounce of sugar syrup and an organic free range egg yolk.
— Mark S.
Vegan & dairy-free substitutes
The classic Amarula liqueur contains dairy, and the drink also uses cream, so made as is, this recipe is not suitable for those who eat vegan and dairy-free.
However, Amarula now produces a non-dairy version called Amarula Vegan Liqueur, which uses coconut milk instead of dairy cream. It comes in a white bottle instead of the usual brown bottle — if you can’t find it, ask your local liquor store if they can get it for you! (I find they are usually pretty willing if they know it’s something people will want to buy.)
For the cream, almond milk, oat milk or coconut cream should work nicely, but I haven’t tried it. (Let me know if you do!) In my experience, oat milk produces the best frothy foam for lattes, so that would probably be my first choice for a dairy-free Brandy Alexander.
Amarula Brandy Alexander
ingredients
- 2 ounces brandy
- 2 ounces Amarula liqueur
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- 1 pinch grated fresh nutmeg
instructions
- In a cocktail shaker
*
filled with ice, combine brandy, Amarula and cream. Shake well.2 ounces brandy, 2 ounces Amarula liqueur, 2 ounces heavy cream - Strain into two martini glasses
*
. Top with a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg.1 pinch grated fresh nutmeg
notes
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Mark Shah says
Very nice! Depending on your taste, try adding 1 ounce of sugar syrup and an organic free range egg yolk.
Gisele Cotton says
I loved Mark Shah’s version, that made it a 5 star – excellent suggestion though
Mark Shah says
Very nice! Depending on your taste, try adding 1 ounce of sugar syrup and an organic free range egg yolk.
Susannah says
Thanks for the tip, Mark! I will definitely give that a try next time.
Gisele Cotton says
I loved Mark Shah’s version, that made it a 5 star – excellent suggestion though
Susannah says
Thanks so much, Gisele! I’ll definitely try that.