IT EN
Brandy Crusta, after-dinner cocktail. Glass: Cocktail glass

Brandy Crusta

Sugar crust, Victorian elegance.

Brandy, maraschino, curaçao and lemon in a sugar-rimmed glass lined with a long citrus peel. It is the drink that brought citrus into the cocktail world, a direct ancestor of the Sidecar.

  • IBA · The Unforgettables
  • After dinner
  • Stirred
Glass
Cocktail glass
Method
Stirred
Strength
Strong
Time
5 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Ice
No ice

Ingredients

Servings 1

Measures for 1 serving

Garnish

  • Sugar rim
  • Long lemon peel spiral

Proportions

How to make

  1. Rub an orange (or lemon) slice around the rim of a slim cocktail glass and dip it in fine white sugar.
  2. Curl a long peel around the inside of the glass.
  3. Fill a mixing glass with ice.
  4. Pour the brandy.
  5. Add the maraschino liqueur.
  6. Add the curaçao.
  7. Add the lemon juice.
  8. Add the simple syrup.
  9. Add the aromatic bitters.
  10. Stir.
  11. Strain into the prepared glass.

The story

Origins

DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.

The Brandy Crusta was born in New Orleans in the 1850s and is credited to Joseph Santini, a bartender from Trieste who ran the Jewel of the South on Gravier Street from 1855; some sources also mention the City Exchange. The key evidence is in print: in 1862 Jerry Thomas included it in his famous bartender's guide, one of the very first cocktail books, crediting a certain 'Santina', whom he wrongly described as Spanish. The sugar rim, the 'crust' that gives the drink its name, and the long lemon peel were its signature. Forgotten during the twentieth century, it was revived in New Orleans in the early 2000s.

Sources (5)

Taste profile

Strong
4 out of 5
Citrus
3 out of 5
Sweet
2 out of 5
Sour
2 out of 5

Variations and similar cocktails