Crème de Menthe Cocktails are typical after-dinner sips. The fresh mint-flavored liqueur paired with sweet or boozy ingredients is class and part of many traditional cocktail recipes. The liqueur is available in a green and a white version, and our overview of tasty Crème de Menthe features both.
Our List Of Crème de Menthe Drinks
The two most popular cocktail recipes with the minty ingredient are the Grasshopper and the Stinger Cocktail, both excellent post-dinner cocktails, so let's start with those.
1. Grasshopper Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz White Creme de cacao
- 1.5 oz Creme de menthe
- 2 oz Heavy cream
- Shaved chocolate as garnish
Instructions: Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker, then shake until the drink is well-chilled. Now, strain the content into a chilled glass. Garnish with shaved chocolate, and your minty Grasshopper drink is ready to be served.
The Grasshopper is a chocolate and mint-flavored dessert drink with a creamy texture. It's rich in taste and calories, making it a perfect substitute for a dessert - rather than one suitable for dessert pairings.
The creamy blend of chocolate and mint is no novelty but a proven, yet sweet flavor combination. Especially during the 1950s and 60s, this drink was famous all across the US.
2. Stinger Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Cognac
- 0.75 oz White Crème de menthe
- 1 Sprig of mint
Instructions: Combine both ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until the drink is chilled. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice and garnish with a sprig of mint.
The Stinger Cocktail is a perfect after-dinner drink. It's a delicious two-ingredient cocktail that's both easy to make and sip. To many, this simple serve is the best mixed drink you can make with the mint-flavored liqueur.
When making it, you need the white version of the mint liqueur and VSOP Cognac. VSOP stands for Very Superior Old Pale and refers to the quality of the spirit. It means that it's aged for at least four years.
3. Peppermint Patty Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 6 oz Hot chocolate
- 1.5 oz Crème de Cacao
- 1.5 oz Crème de Menthe
- Garnish: Whipped cream & crushed peppermint candies
Instructions: Pour both liqueurs into your hot chocolate and briefly stir the drink. Then top with whipped cream and garnish with candy sprinkles; -that's it.
The Peppermint Patty is a sweet and chocolatey mixed drink combined with fresh minty flavors. It can be served hot and cold - we opt for hot.
For this, we spike a base of hot chocolate with two different Crème liqueurs, namely Crème de Menthe and Crème de Cacao. Garnished with whipped cream and peppermint candy, it's a perfect hot cocktail for wintertime.
4. Original White Lady
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Crème de Menthe
- 1 oz Triple Sec
- 0.66 oz Lemon juice
Instructions: Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake until the drink is chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and optionally garnish with a lemon wheel.
The White Lady Cocktail is known as a classic gin drink made with Triple Sec and fresh lemon juice - not really as a Crème de Menthe cocktail. So you might wonder how it can be part of this list?!
The thing is, in 1919, the creator of this recipe, Harry MacElhone first made his White Lady with the famous mint liqueur, not with gin. Ten years later, he altered the recipe and substituted the mint-flavored liqueur for the herbal spirit.
5. Emerald Isle Crème de Menthe Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 1 tsp Green Crème de Menthe
- 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Instructions: Put all ingredients together into a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir for about 20 seconds until the drink is chilled, then strain it into a chilled Martini glass.
When writing about Crème de Menthe drinks, you can't ignore the Emerald Isle Cocktail. This Martini-style cocktail is based on gin, flavored with the green version of this mint-flavored liqueur, and balanced with a few drops of aromatic bitters.
It's typically served in a Martini glass and sports a striking green color. That also makes it a popular choice on St. Patrick's Day.
6. Absinthe Suissesse Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 ounces absinthe
- 1 teaspoon white creme de menthe
- 3 drops Anisette
- 3 drops of Orange flower water
- 1 egg white
Instructions: combine the ingredients in your shaker with ice and shake until chilled. For extra frothiness, shake again without ice (reverse dry shake) for 10 seconds before straining into a chilled glass.
The Absinthe Suissesse does not actually taste mint-forward like the other recipes on our list. Instead, the freshness of mint is used to tame the taste of the strong Absinthe flavor in the drink.
The addition of egg white to the cocktail recipe makes it velvety smooth and adds a beautiful frothy top. The other ingredients, like Anisette and Orange flower water, are mainly used to balance the tastes.
7. American Beauty Crème de Menthe Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Cognac
- 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Crème de Menthe
- 0.5 oz Orange juice
- 0.5 oz Homemade Grenadine
- 1 tbsp Red wine
Instructions: Add all ingredients except red wine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Then, shake for 15 seconds and strain the drink into a chilled glass. Float the red wine on top and garnish your American Beauty Drink with a flower petal (optional).
This recipe is an adapted version of David Embury's celebrated original. The cocktail was first published in his book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks released in 1948.
It's a refreshing drink with delicate notes of mint and a beautiful mix of flavors that blend extraordinarily well. Together with the Stinger Cocktail, this is currently our favorite recipe on the list of Crème de Menthe Cocktails.