Adrienne's Dream

I can totally see where this is going. A bartender or guest has an idea--something that comes to one in a dream after drinking too many Stingers. The flavor remains with you as you nod off and nearly vanishes upon waking. How to get that flavor of a potent rocks drink in a light and refreshing soda? 

The trick is dilution and proportion. Creme de menthe is fun to drink in large quantities, but it is so sugary. Even mixed at a disadvantage with brandy and served on ice, it leaves you feeling tired and looking for someplace to lie down. Whoever Adrienne was, she figured out fun way to have your brandy, mint and chocolate so that it can continue all night long.

• 2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps (white creme de menthe used)
• 1/2 oz. white creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup or to taste
• club soda
• mint sprig garnish

Combine brandy, liqueurs, sugar syrup and juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with the mint. 

Adrienne's Dream

I'm not sure who this Adrienne is, but the dream she had just came true with this cocktial. I often overlook fizzy drinks and those that combine creme de cocoa and mint liqueurs as simply being gimics. Something else caught my eye in this instance, though. There wasn't a call for green creme de menthe to make a glaringly green soda--the only colorful liqueur is the brandy. The proprotion of the liqueurs to the rest of the ingredietns is so small that the flavors are more like suggestions to the senses than a main aspect of the overall drink. 

Brandy is the big feature here, and it is a rich, oaky brandy like California's Korbel to carry the weight of this cocktail. Citrus, which seems misplaced in a drink with sweet liqueurs, is actually a major element of the Adrienne's Dream's balance. Again, the cremes add a lot in small proportion, and the lemon juice just makes the drink feel light and fresh. 

• 2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. white peppermint schnapps
• club soda
• mint sprig

Combine lemon juice and spirits in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice.  Top it with soda and stir gently before garnishing with the mint sprig.

7 Stinger

A good Stinger is a work to be treasured. I never felt that I'd come across one that I like as much as a Brandy Stinger. If you don't know, these are pretty basic cocktails that involve white peppermint schnapps and some other strong spirit to space it out. They have been done frozen and on the rocks. Stingers make good shots and awesome dive bar drinks. So it is not surprising to find America's most mixable whiskey in a Stinger recipe.

• 1 oz. Seagram's Seven Crown whiskey
• 1 oz. peppermint schnapps (white creme de menthe used and recommended)

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Diana

I know I did this drink back in December, but a recent search for it turned up empty. I found it on one of my Instagram posts, however, and tracked it down from there.

The Diana really is a tingly and strong mint drink that is very suited to winter drinking like when I first tried it. I remember the experience well. It is all about the mint and crushed ice. The cognac float comes through as well. The whole experience is like a snow globe, which I think is the intention. Frosty on the glass, round, and very minty. I don't have white creme de menthe, but a cheap substitute (especially when cheap white creme de menthe is concerned) is peppermint schnapps. The point is that the drink can't be green.

• 2 oz. white creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps used)
• 1/2 oz. cognac
• crushed ice

Pour creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps) into a snifter full of crushed ice. Float cognac on top.

Fallen Angel

The Fallen Angel is very different from other "Angel" family cocktails in that it is very dry and tart. It does have peppermint schnapps like many of its siblings, though. I'd say that Angel drinks have very little in common other than there being some sweet and almost imperceptible element in its flavor profile--that being the Angel.

In this case there is the botanicals of gin and peppermint. With so little peppermint schnapps, there's no sweetness. You get overwhelming amounts of lime acidity and booze. I thought that combination would be unbearable, but this drink demands a second sip. There are delicate floral notes from the gin and bitters that are worthy of note. It's not a terrible drink, it's actually just an squired taste like very tart drinks like the Rickey. If you do chose to make this drink, use a dry gin like Tanqueray, not some low-juniper wet gin from America. You want something dry and firm as the base.

• 2 oz. gin (Tanqueray used)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. peppermint schnapps
• dash Angostura bitters
• maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry. 

Amaretto Stinger

The Amaretto Stinger is the sweetest of the stinger cocktails. Like the others, it is pretty good considering that there is a whole ounce of peppermint schnapps, which tends to ruin drinks.

My only criticism of this cocktail is that it is as sweet as it is. Brandy, gin, vodka: these all are drier and cut down on the sugar. But the up side is that Disaronno is mellow and tamps down sharp peppermint flavors. The amaretto flavor blends with the mint and turns this cocktail into a cordial with a cold finish.

• 2 oz. amaretto (Disaronno used)
• 1 oz. peppermint schnapps

Combine both ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Miami Cocktail

It's pretty. But the Miami cocktail is really a bad idea for a lot of reasons. One bar guest described it as "That feeling you get when you have citrus after brushing your teeth." That's a bad sign. And it should be a signal that any mint schnapps and lime drink is a bad idea from the outset. Then again, there's a time and a place for drinks like this.

Picture a Daiquiri drinker during the holidays looking to sweeten his drink with peppermint. Not convinced? I'm not either.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. peppermint schnapps
• 1/4 tsp. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (Note: a mint garnish as shown looks pretty.)

Stinger & Vodka Stinger

I don't know why I hadn't considered these for a double post, but it makes sense. The original Stinger is two parts Cognac and one white creme de menthe. It is far better than expected, even when you only have peppermint schnapps. The mint just cools the whole drink down and leaves you feeling more refreshed than a cognac on the rocks.

The Vodka Stinger is pretty self explanatory: two parts vodka to one part creme de menthe. For some reason it is served up, rather than on the rocks. The same serving is suggested for the most unusual of this family, the Tequila Stinger.

•  2 oz. base spirit (Cognac for the original Stinger and vodka for the Vodka Stinger)
• 1 oz. white creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps is a fine substititue)

Shake all ingredients and pour into an Old Fashioned glass (for the Stinger) or strain into a cocktail glass (Vodka Stinger.)

Pall Mall

This drink is strangely named after the old cigarette brand with the same name. It is a Martini variation that ups the herbal flavors of gin and vermouth with orange bitters and mint liquor. The recipe calls for white creme de menthe, but I can only find peppermint schnapps, a fair substitute when it is used in so little proportion. A good creme de menthe is wonderful in large amounts, and peppermint schnapps tends to taste too much like candy cane.

Green Hat gin is a local prohibition style gin in D.C. It is a good ingredient for a cocktail that has that wet, funky, prohibition style flavor.

• 2 oz. gin (Green Hat used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1 tsp. creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps used)
• dash orange bitters

 Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Coney Island Baby

I see what this drink is doing. It's a sugary soda drink that tastes like a non-alcoholic cocktail. It's not especially strong but sugar and soda will take their toll and you will be feeling flush pretty quickly.

Coney Island  has this association of walking with sweethearts with an ice cream or soda in hand. The syrupy sweetness of Coney Island Baby doesn't disappoint.

• 2 oz. peppermint schnapps
• 1 oz. dark creme de cacao
• sparkling water

Combine schnapps and creme de cacao in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water and stir gently.

Glad Eyes

This is a great Pernod cocktail, and not too tarnished by its use of peppermint schnapps. I was concerned, and rightly, that Pernod would be too sweet to blend with schnapps. It wouldn't even be drinkable. I had the idea to use Mt. Defiant absinthe, which is real absinthe, as the base and use the schnapps to sweeten the bitter licorice of real absinthe.

The effect was awesome. The peppermint schnapps did add sweetness and a minty finish but the flavor remained strong and bracingly alcoholic. The shaking aerated the absinthe and made it turn white and spaced the flavor out so that it became a cool absinthe liqueur similar in flavor and thickness to Pernod. Do it this way if you do it at all.

• 2 oz. Pernod (Mt. Defiance absinthe superior used)
• 1 oz. peppermint schnapps

 Combine both in ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Hot Pants

This is one of those drinks that sounds awful, but in reality it is quite good. I attribute this success to fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and coarse ground salt. But peppermint schnapps and tequila are not so bad together and they might seem.

The effect of drinking this cocktail over the salt and sugar rim is that this spicy and cold liquid seems almost to taste like chili pepper, not peppermint. The flavors are surprisingly complimentary with tequila.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• salt
• sugar

Mix salt and sugar on a plate. Coat the rim of an Old Fashioned glass with grapefruit juice and dip into the sugar and salt mixture. Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into the Old Fashioned glass. 

Bourbon Cooler

From the look of this drink, you really have no way of telling how it tastes. It looks juicy and that you're likely to get a cranberry or sloe gin sweetness. Actually the Bourbon Cooler is pretty spicy and dry. This comes from it being mainly a Bourbon & Soda with dashes of orange bitters and peppermint schnapps. It all adds up to a more intensified bourbon flavor, with the peppermint and baking spices of orange bitters accentuating what bourbon already tastes like.

Even after sipping a while, it is hard to fathom this cocktail. Why the pineapple spear? Why is is pink? That's grenadine, by the way. But why? Coolers, as the category goes, are a loose form of highball drink that usually has a small component of peppermint schnapps to give you that chilly afterbreath. They almost always have soda in them as well. The pineapple spear reminds me of the Japanese Fizz, and there is something to taking an American whiskey and making it seem more exotic in a cocktail. That's what the Tiki movement is all about, after all.

• 3 oz. bourbon
• 1/2 oz. grenadine
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 3-5 dashes peppermint schnapps
• 3-5 dashes orange bitters
• sparkling water
• pineapple spear

Combine all ingredients except pineapple in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with the pineapple spear. 

Tequila Stinger

Moving right along with the tequila drinks, the Stinger is a creme de menthe drink. The Tequila Stinger is self explanatory. I have to say that I liked this one more than I thought I would. You have to be in the right mood for a minty drink. But silver tequila doesn't immediately clash with mint, and if you make it with peppermint schnapps instead of creme de menthe, like I did, you get a crisp, frosty tasting drink that's good for the holiday season.

I don't know why the NYBG calls for an Old Fashioned glass for the Stinger and a cocktail glass for the Tequila Stinger, but I met somewhere in the middle with this canted Old Fashioned Glass for the photo.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (or glass of your choice, really.)

Cool Yule Martini

Stolichnaya vodka is my choice for the Cool Yule Martini. Of course any vodka will do, but Stoli just says Christmas to me. I sense that this Martini variation is not stepping out of bounds of what can be considered a true Martini. I mean there's more than a hint of dry vermouth. So what if peppermint schnapps is added, it's still an actual Martini because the original proportions are maintained.

With the candy cane, you almost don't need the schnapps, and I appreciate that the peppermint schnapps proportion is so slight, but don't overlook the heft of that dry vermouth. I used Mancino vermouth, which is loaded with botanicals and It felt like I was having a traditional Martini with a candy cane stuck in it. (On second thought Noilly Prat would have been a better choice because it is more subtle.) 

I figure if you are going to go peppermint, you can go a little more than 1 tsp. But please keep it under an ounce. I mean this is a real Martini after all. It's not just some crap Christmas drink with peppermint schnapps and vodka, though that might taste cleaner, it's a classic cocktail variation. Treat it with some respect and have a merry Christmas!

• 3 oz. vodka (Stolichnaya used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used, but Noilly Prat recommended)
• 1 tsp. peppermint schnapps
• 1 candy cane garnish

Shake liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with candy cane. 

Glad Eyes

What a simple and weird drink. It's going for that crisp cooling effect that peppermint schnapps and Pernod are known to have. The flavor is instantly cooling in the mouth and in the body. Interestingly, this drink is nearly clear in the mixing glass, but as soon as you stir it with ice it becomes a cloudy yellow-green, which is a cool trick if you are making it for someone.

But I don't really recommend making it for anyone. Americans have a hard time with anise flavors and don't appreciate overwhelming mint flavors either. I thought it was a good way to use up my peppermint liqueur that I made two years ago. The stuff is a little harsh, but nothing stands up to two ounces of Pernod. It covers all.

• 2 oz. Pernod
• 1 oz. peppermint schnapps

Mix all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

The Minch

Happy New Year!

The Minch is a cute name for this drink. It's like the Minch (mint Grinch) who stole Christmas. I don't like peppermint drinks too much. They taste like mouthwash. And there is a limit on how many I will make for this blog. Christmas Martinis--that's actually a thing--are so minty and green that the gin really does taste like a Christmas Tree. A cool concept, but not enjoyable.

So the Minch is light on mint, and I got these stir sticks that are good for coffee and hot chocolate. These have the cool effect of turning the drink more red over time. At first it was nearly clear. All in all, not a bad drink if you have poor scotch, and an even better one if you have a lightly peated scotch blend that plays well with peppermint schnapps.

• 1 1/2 oz. scotch
• 1 tsp. peppermint schnapps
• club soda
• peppermint stick

Build drink in an Old Fashioned glass full of ice. Add scotch and schnapps, then top with soda and decorate with the peppermint stick.