Grasshopper

Classic/vintage · Creamy (e.g. Dirty banana) · Dessert cocktails

4.0 107 ratings

Ingredients

How to make

Flavour profile

11.3% alc./vol. · 0.9 standard drinks · 258 calories

History

This creamy, slightly sweet, minty after-dinner drink is highly enjoyable.

The Grasshopper serves as the signature cocktail for Tujague's, the second oldest restaurant found in New Orleans, which Guillaume Tujague established in 1856. Upon his death in 1912, Guillaume's sister assumed control of the restaurant's operations, but following her husband's passing some years later, she sold Tujague's to Jean-Dominic Castet and his business partner, Philip Guichet, Sr. According to legend, Philibert Guichet secured second prize in a renowned New York cocktail competition for his Grasshopper cocktail in 1919 (or, alternatively, during Prohibition in the 1920s). Regrettably, no documentary evidence has been uncovered to substantiate either this victory or his claim to have created the cocktail. A recipe for a beverage named the Grasshopper, featuring equal parts crème de menthe layered over crème de cacao, is found in William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's 1908 publication, World's Drinks and How to Mix Them. The creation of this drink is there ascribed to "Harry O'Brien, late of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco." At an undetermined time (possibly by Philibert Guichet at Tujague's), cream became incorporated as a third component into the two-ingredient layered Grasshopper from 1908, transforming it into the shaken cocktail known presently. Various newspapers from the 1950s indicate that the contemporary Grasshopper originated in the late 1940s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Among these is an article from the Sunday 19th February 1950 edition of the Monroe Morning World (Monroe, Louisiana, USA). A quotation from the Monroe Morning World article states: "New Idea Introduced by Restaurant Owner" [who uses his artistic talent to illustrate his menus and found his drawing of a Mexican sombrero increased sales of Mexican dishes] "Later he tried the same procedure for the cocktail lounge at the Hollywood. This time it was a grasshopper perched on a cocktail glass, drawn to order for the purpose of introducing a new dink, the "grasshopper", originated a year ago in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. The first night the drink was served at the Hollywood, sales pushed up. The same thing occurred when Reagan introduced another beverage, the Moscow mule....." A piece dated 8th September 1950, titled "Grasshopper Cocktail" by Clementine Paddleford in The Baltimore Sun, challenges the assertion that the cocktail was created at Fazio's Town Room in Milwaukee, instead presenting "Charlie's in Minneapolis" as the cocktail's origin. The article itself quotes: "To A Man's Heart Grasshopper Cocktail By Clementine Paddleford IN MARCH we mentioned the grasshopper cocktail, met for the first time at a wine and food tasting, and credited its creation to Fazio's Restaurant in Milwaukee. The cocktail, in case you have forgotten, is made with one-third white cacao, one-third green creme de menthe and one-third light cream in a quick shake with shaved ice. The drink pours a soft pastel green, palate caressing and sweet enough to be served as dessert. Norden Van Home, of Rye, N.Y., writes we are wrong on the grasshopper's origin. "The drink appeared first at Charlie's in Minneapolis."' While at the aforementioned Charlie's, Mr. Van Home chanced upon another fine mixture which he calls a cross between a grasshopper and a brandy Alexander and a stinger. He admits it sounds sort of hideous, but promises that a sip will quell any misapprehensions. It goes under the sinister title of Didy-Wah-Didie. The proportions are as follows: Two parts brandy, one part green creme de menthe, one part brown for white) creme de cacao and one healthy dash of cream. The Grasshopper experienced its peak popularity decades later, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Consequently, it is unsurprising that a notable bartender conceived of adding vodka to fashion the arguably superior Flying Grasshopper cocktail.