Name: Brandy Smash
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 7 fresh Mint leaves; 60 ml Cognac (brandy); 7.5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1)

Brandy Smash
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Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
7 fresh	Mint leaves
2 oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
¹⁄₄ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Mint sprig

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and fine strain into ice-filled glass (preferably over a chunk of block ice).

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Sweetened cognac flavoured with mint. Simple but beautiful.

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History:

A classic from the 1850s.

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Chris Dimal

13th January 2023 at 09:50

Did both muddling and hard shaking. Was uninteresting in my opinion. Did use French Grape Brandy because we didn't have Cognac.

Hunter Newsome

1st May 2022 at 14:43

Common wisdom seems to be that it’s better to carefully muddle mint as opposed to shredding it which releases bitter, vegetal flavors. However I’ve also seen many recipes like this one calling for shaking with mint, or even muddling before shaking, which shreds it up either way. Wouldn’t it be better to stir, roll, or throw instead?

Simon Difford

1st May 2022 at 16:57

There's generally no need to muddle mint prior to shaking as with good ice and a vigorous shake, as you say, the mint is pulverized anyway. (Guess that's where this cocktail gets its name Smash from.) If you want to more gently infuse mint, then simply add leaves to your spirit for a good hour or so before making your drink and strain before using.