The Curious Comeback of the Grasshopper Cocktail

Creamy, mint-green, frothy – the Grasshopper’s lately been cropping (hopping?) up everywhere, from London’s five-star hotels and Chicago cocktail bars to Tokyo watering holes. Made by shaking equal parts crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and heavy cream with ice, it’s about as close as a cocktail can get to dessert; an unapologetic riposte to po-faced Martini puritanism.

“Guests love it for its delicious mint-and-chocolate flavor, its bright green colour, and the slight tongue-in-cheek sense of fun that comes with ordering it,” says Linden Pride of Dante New York, which has now also taken up permanent residence at London’s Claridges Hotel. “The Grasshopper is nostalgic without taking itself too seriously.”

The drink has its roots in the 19^th-century pousse café (literally ‘push coffee’), a genre of digestifs made by layering colored cordials and liqueurs to create a stripey shot. The first Grasshopper, set down in 1908, was a simple two-part drink featuring equal measures of crème de cacao and crème de menthe. Over the next 50 years, cream and, sometimes cognac, were added and it became a shaken drink. Nobody can agree on precisely who perfected it, but New Orleans’s Tujague’s Restaurant often claims the (unsubstantiated) credit.

See also: The Resurrection of the Cosmopolitan Cocktail

Good-quality liqueurs are critical to a great Grasshopper, and most bartenders agree that Tempus Fugit taste the best. “Their crème de menthe and cacao bring fresh, natural mint and deep cocoa flavors without tasting artificial or overly sweet,” says Kevin Beary, beverage director of Chicago’s popular Gus’s Sip & Dip cocktail bar. (The only downside to the Tempus Fugit crème de menthe is it’s colorless, rather than green – if you really want to achieve that bright grasshopper hue then Pride recommends Giffard’s Crème de Menthe as a good alternative).

Some, like Dante Mayfair and Tokyo’s playful Tokyo Confidential bar, like to add a dash of Fernet Branca Menta, too, to give the drink a more grown-up, bittermint bite. Gus’s Sip n Dip, meanwhile, adds a quarter ounce of Green Chartreuse for a more herbal accent – an addition that I love.

See also: The Secret to the Perfect Pimm’s

“We then use a Japanese kakigōri ice shaver to create a delicate layer of light, fluffy shave ice over the top, that mimics the texture of freshly fallen snow,” says Gus’s beverage director Kevin Beary. “To finish, we grate Andie’s Mint Chocolate over the shaved ice [which amplifies] the drink’s mint-and-chocolate character.”

Replacing at least some of the cream with ice cream makes it even more indulgent. At Unnecessary, a new cocktail-themed soft serve bar in New York’s East Village they’ve gone the whole hog and created a non-alcoholic Grasshopper ice cream that combines nostalgic mint choc chip flavors with more elevated notes of fresh coconut water and Shizuoka matcha from upmarket Japanese tea merchants Kettl.

Matcha is also key to the Grasshopper twist at Monkey Thief, a pan-Asian cocktail bar in NYC. “We wanted the drink to visually mimic a shop treat and offer a bit of a surprise when taking that first sip,’ says partner and beverage director David Muhs. “We milk-wash a base of iichiko shochu, coconut rum, Branca Menta and crème de cacao with pandan syrup and matcha tea. We serve it cold in the daintiest little teacup and top it with a hot foam made from more matcha tea and lavender syrup. The result is a drink that gives you both hot and cold sensations in one sip.”

“There is something cheeky and mischievous about ordering a Grasshopper,” says Vitek Melichar of London’s Simpson’s in the Strand, which does a more classic-style Grasshopper fortified with nips of Armagnac and absinthe. “You almost feel like you shouldn’t, but you’re glad you did. When you order one you may as well give the bartender a wink.”

Dante’s Grasshopper recipe

Ingredients:

Glass:

Frozen Nick and Nora glass.

Method:

Shake hard with ice and fine strain. Garnish with grated chocolate.