Brandy Crusta
A nineteenth-century Cognac sour with a sugared rim and wide citrus peel.
Base spirit
Cognac
Style
Sour
Glassware
Coupe
Technique
Shake
The Brandy Crusta is an early sour relative of the Sidecar: Cognac, citrus, and orange liqueur in a glass with a sugared rim and an expansive peel. It is aromatic, slightly sweet, and historically important to the sour family. Served up, it has a clear fall-winter brandy character.
Ingredients
Servings
- • 2 oz Cognac
- • 0.5 oz orange liqueur
- • 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
- • 0.25 oz simple syrup
- • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- • sugar for rim
Did you know?
“Joseph Santini is credited with the Crusta in mid-nineteenth-century New Orleans, an important ancestor of later brandy sours.”
Source:David Wondrich, Imbibe!; New Orleans cocktail histories
Bartender's Note
Sugar only the outer rim. The wide peel should stand inside the glass as a lining in traditional presentations.
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How to make the Brandy Crusta
- 1Sugar the outer rim of a chilled coupe
- 2Shake Cognac, liqueur, lemon, syrup, and bitters with ice
- 3Strain into the glass
- 4Fit a wide orange peel inside as garnish
