Name: B and B
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 40 ml Cognac (brandy); 25 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.

Ingredients

1 1/3 fl oz

Cognac (brandy)

5/6 fl oz

Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

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

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
31.5% alc./vol. (62.99° proof)
20.5 grams of pure alcohol

History

Bénédictine and various types of brandy have long been mixed together and combo first enters cocktail books in the early 1900s as a pousse-café layered cocktail with the 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.

Raymond E. Sullivan, The Barkeeper's Manual, 1910

However, popular culture has it that 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).

When, and possibly even where, someone in America first mixed brandy with Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur is questionable but the popularity of the combination is not. Such was the demand for this cocktail that in 1937/8, Le Palais Bénédictine started production of a bottled blend of 60% Bénédictine and 40% French brandy for sale in the USA under the name Bénédictine B&B. To this day, in the USA, sales of B&B far exceed sales of the original Bénédictine D.O.M. (used in this cocktail).

Comments & Discussion

Please log in to make a comment

Morten Carlsbaek 1 month ago

great nightcap

Annechien 1 year ago

This is damn tasty for such an easy cocktail. I’m using Hennessy VS. First sip thought it was pretty good. Read the recipe again and realized I forgot the garnish. A bit of lemon freshness really takes it to another level. For me it’s up there with the old fashioned.

Leon Camfield 1 year ago

Like a Rusty Nail but a million times better

Bear Howard 2 years ago

2:1 works for me. I add two drops of saline and a dash of black walnut bitters for a more complex finish.

Yossi Burg 2 years ago

Thanks Charl (and John)- 2:1 with a melting large block of ice and this is a great after dinner sipper.

John Hinojos 3 years ago

Following Charl's advice, made this 2 to 1. It was perfect. Still a bit sweet for my tastes, but not noticeably. Sweetness does lessen as the cocktail has a chance to breathe and the block of ice melt a bit. Loved it as an after-dinner or night cap.

Charl Engela 3 years ago

This is the *perfect* digestif. Good brandy and Bénédictine. I make mine with 2 measures of brandy to one of Bénédictine, and I garnish with maraschino cherries. My favourite of all after-dinner drinks.

Variations include Canadian whisky (but not American bourbon or rye) instead of brandy.

Try it, you’ll love it!

View 7 comments and discussion

B & B