cognac (brandy)
dashes of cointreau
dashes of sugar syrup
dashes of Angostura bitters

1 twist of lemon peel

ice cubes

tumbler (old-fashioned glass)

Put several ice cubes in a shaker, add all the ingredients (except the lemon peel) (2 dashes of each Cointreau, sugar syrup and Angostura per regular-sized glass). and shake well. Strain the mixture into a tumbler (old-fashioned glass) that has been filled with ice cubes (the ice cubes used for shaking remain in the shaker). Put the twist of lemon peel in the glass and serve.

This cocktail recipe is one of the oldest that still remains popular. The brandy cocktail dates back to the middle of the 19th century and is regarded as the father of the sidecar cocktail (side car recipe »). As you can tell by comparing those two - important ingredients for the cocktails of the old days were the bitters.