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For all its frivolity and over-the-top femininity, the Grasshopper cocktail is the ultimate dessert mixed drink. And he has an interesting history, and not only the role of a means of liberation of the silent nerd Rajesh Koothrappali from the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
I don’t particularly like such statues, but since the audience of our site consists not only of rude and uncouth dorks, we periodically indulge our dear readers with various feminine drinks (don’t take it as propaganda of inequality). In this field, articles have already been written about Cosmopolitan cocktails, Pina Coladas and the famous Sex on the Beach cocktail. This time it’s about insects.
Prehistory of the Grasshopper cocktail
The cocktail got its name due to the slightly green color, which owes to the famous mint liqueur Сreme de Menthe (Creme de Mente). The liqueur appeared already in the 19th century, but for today’s Grasshopper it would not have worked, since initially it was not muddied by all kinds of dyes (there was a grasshopper in the grass – it was transparent …). Creme de Mente began to be used in cocktails at the beginning of the last century, for example, the famous William Bootsby, nicknamed “Bill Cocktail”, used liqueur in his masterpiece Missisippi Maid – mint liqueur, milk and sugar.
The first Grasshopper consisted of just two ingredients: cocoa liqueur and mint liqueur. It was a classic puss-cafe served in pony liqueur glasses. And here the intrigue begins. There is a version that the cocktail was just one of their interpretations of the then famous cocktail Alexander or, at worst, Alexander’s Sister. However, the Frenchman Gilliam Tudzhek claims (or rather, he argued, let the earth rest in peace) that he invented the cocktail, and that he had never heard of any Alexander. It happened in the New Orleans institution Tujague’s in 1856, which was opened by father Gilliam, having reached the shores of America from the glorious city of Bordeaux.
On his deathbed, Toojek sold his bar to local farmer Filbert Guiche, who in 1919 went to a rather prestigious cocktail competition in New York, where he was lucky enough to take second place. Naturally, he became the winner thanks to the previous owner of the establishment, who gave him the recipe for the Grasshopper cocktail. By the way, the Tujague’s establishment still exists today, and its signature cocktail is the famous Grasshopper served with a spoonful of brandy.
The cocktail gained popularity in the 40s, when Leroux, a liquor company from Philadelphia, took up its promotion. The Grasshopper became a classic cocktail in the 50s and 60s, and consolidated its fame in the 70s and 80s, when the “flower children” gave rise to the fashion for creamy cocktails. Of course, today the glory of the “jumping” drink has faded a bit. But the cult of this creamy-mint masterpiece is gradually being revived thanks to the same Rajesh Koothrappali, who is happy to use the Grasshopper as a verbal Viagra.
Cocktail recipe Grasshopper (digestif, shake)
Ingredients:
- 30 ml liqueur Créme de cacao (white);
- 30 ml Créme de menthe (green) liqueur;
- 30 ml fresh cream.
Preparation:
Pour all the ingredients into a shaker, add ice and shake for a few seconds (do not take long, as the cream may curdle). Pour the finished cocktail through a strainer into a chilled cocktail glass. The drink can be decorated with grated dark chocolate and a mint leaf.
Variations on the theme “Grasshopper”
- coffee grasshopper – Grasshopper + 30 ml Kahlua;
- brown grasshopper (Brown Grasshopper) – Grasshopper + espresso;
- Flying grasshopper – instead of cream, vodka;
- frozen grasshopper (Frozen Grasshopper) – with mint ice cream;
- tall grasshopper (High Grasshopper) – with the addition of Green dragon vodka (hemp).
And so on and so forth. Drink, enjoy, experiment, read The Rum Diary!
PS Video recipe attached: