Does drinking Brandy warm you up?

[spainlads]

I know many people that drink things like 'hot chocolate and brandy' to warm them up, but I always believed that this was a myth. And alcohol actually makes you colder. Anyone know which is true - It warms you, or cools you? Is it also a myth about a St Bernard dog and the brandy barrell?

[smudge]

My only occasional tipple is Brandy & Lemonade. I would say the only reason it warms me, is that I'm either sitting in the garden in the sunshine, by the fire or in a warm pub drinking it. Other than that I really couldn't say.

[magicdice]

alcohol depresses your senses, so you don't notice an excess of temperature

[stoo_pid]

Alcoholic spirits like brandy might give you an immediate sense of warming up but this is because the alcohol dilates your blood vessels. This allows your already warm blood to get closer to the surface of the skin. Of course, this also means that the blood soon gets cooler, which means in turn you get colder.