21 Club, New York, 1937.
| 1 oz · 30 ml | BRANDY | 40 % |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | BENEDICTINE | 40 % |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 2 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Stirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +0.3 oz of water |
| Served | 2 + 0.3 = 2.3 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.8 ÷ 2.3 = 34.8 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM COGNAC · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
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FROM BENEDICTINE
The bitter from gentian root, used across Campari, Aperol, sweet vermouth, Angostura, and most amari. Bitter compounds activate TAS2R taste receptors that evolved to detect plant alkaloids. The same machinery that makes broccoli taste bad to children also makes a Negroni taste like an adult ordered it.
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Brandy and Benedictine: two ingredients, in equal parts. The bottled B&B has been commercially produced since 1937; this is the homemade equivalent. A post-dinner digestif, served neat.
Credited to the 21 Club in New York in the 1930s as a way to make Benedictine more accessible to American palates. Straight Benedictine was perceived as too herbal-sweet, and the brandy split balanced it. The Benedictine company began bottling the pre-mixed B&B in 1937 specifically for this market; the bottled product is now the dominant form. Hand-mixed B&Bs are largely a bartender's-choice variation; the bottled 'B&B Liqueur' is the standard pour.
