The Nikolaschka Cocktail Recipe

Posted in Brandy on March 4, 2014

The Nikolaschka is an amazing and surprising drink. It will open up a completely new world for you when it comes to drinking cognac.

It is one of the easiest cocktails that you can try at home because you don’t actually have to mix anything. The only fluid ingredient of this cocktail is the cognac. The charm of the drink comes from the lemon disk which covers the glass and which is traditionally consumed before drinking the cognac beneath it. The Nikolaschka is not at all complex. It is, after all, plain cognac with a lemon disk, some coffee and some sugar. However, it has an undeniable charm and a flavor that can’t be duplicated. It is meant to be an after dinner drink and it is definitely more sophisticated than serving cognac alone.

This is the perfect cocktail if you want to impress your dinner guests. Everyone can give them cognac after meal, but not everyone will come up with the fancy looking snifters covered with a lemon disk. Your efforts are sure going to be appreciated. The best part is that making Nikolaschka at home is very simple. The drink is usually served in a brandy snifter. However, a short-stemmed glass also works if you don’t have snifters. The cocktail does not need garnishing since the lemon disk is enough. If your guests have never consumed this cocktail before, you’ll have to teach them that the charm of the cocktail consists in first eating the lemon disk with the powdered coffee and sugar and then drinking the cognac. The flavor of the cognac is going to be enhanced by the sweet and sour combination on the lemon disk.

How to Prepare the Nikolaschka

You need the following ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz. of cognac.
• A peeled lemon disk.
• A tsp. of powdered coffee sugar.
• A tsp. of powdered coffee.

These are enough for one cocktail which can be ready in only a few minutes. Pour the cognac in the brandy snifter or the short-stemmed glass and cover the top of the glass with the lemon disk. Place the powdered coffee on one half of the disk and the powdered sugar on the other half. This is it and your Nikolaschka is ready.

You can make Vodka Nikolaschka by replacing the cognac with vodka. In this case, you can also use an orange disk instead of a lemon one. Another common variation is the Nikolaschka Pillkallen which uses Kirshwasser (cherry brandy) instead of cognac.