The Grasshopper’s roots come from the era just before prohibition when cream based drinks were still in vogue. The original drink was the Alexander, a snow white mix of gin, white creme de cacao, and cream that was named for it’s creator, Troy Alexander. Shortly there after in 1919, a florescent green cream-based creation was invented by New Orleans native Philbert Guichet for a cocktail competition in New York. The drink would place second, but Philbert proudly brought the drink home to his New Orleans based restaurant Tujague’s, where the Grasshopper lives on to this day.
Grasshopper
The Grasshopper is smooth, creamy, and refreshing. While the cream looks as though it would make this heavy, the lighter liquors keep the drink from becoming overwhelming. Thanks to the sugar, it drinks like dessert, being reminiscent of mint chocolate chip ice cream. The low alcohol point also make it approachable to both new and veteran cocktail fans.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
The Grasshopper is a straight forward, easy to make drink, but it’s not without potential pitfalls.
- White Creme de Cacao – The original calls for White Creme de Cacao which has a decidedly more vanilla / white chocolate like note than it’s Creme de Cacao cousin. Creme de Cacao has a nice, dark chocolate almost liquor like character character to it, and plays well in relatives of the Alexander. Feel free to swap it here to enjoy a more Andes mint like flavor. We used Dekuypers.
- Green Creme de Menthe – It’s florescent, it’s green, and it takes a bit like toothpaste. The allure in this drink is the mint note that adds refreshment, and the color. If you’d like to keep it color free, use Creme de Menthe that doesn’t feature green color.
- Heavy Cream – There’s no getting around it, Heavy Cream is packed with calories and rich, silky texture. While it shouldn’t curdle (due to low ABV and acidity), we recommend you make this over ice, use the back of the bar spoon to try to layer the cream, and stir quickly after adding it. Failing to do so, or pouring aggressively into the liqueurs could result in light curdling.
- Garnish – The Grasshopper is a playful drink, and you should feel free to experiment. Garnishes include chocolate shavings, mint leaves, and whipped cream.
- Glassware – Many recommendations call for a Martini glass. While this is acceptable, we feel they work poorly compared with coupes and Nick and Nora glasses that help corral the drink for the recipient. For these reasons, we recommend a stem, but suggest a Martini glass only if requested.
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