20 Dec 12 Drinks of Christmas 2016: Minthattan Cocktail Recipe
12 Drinks of Christmas 2016: Minthattan Cocktail Recipe
Happy holidays!
It’s the time of the year for holiday decorations, twinkling lights, warm spices, and a rolling series of parties, gatherings, and celebrations. For the second year in a row, we’ll be adding to the festivities with twelve drinks to make all of those parties just a little merrier and brighter.
Ever since we bought our bottle of high-quality creme de menthe, we’ve been like kids with a new toy, a new toy we love but don’t quite know what to do with. We want to use it as much as possible, because it’s new and fun–and because we know that the moment for mint drinks will pass sooner than we know it, and our creme de menthe will makes its way to the back of the bar with the allspice dram.
But creme de menthe (even a superior one), kind of like a BB gun, has to be handled carefully. We quickly discovered (as, apparently, did Baldwin & Sons before us) that unless it’s paired properly, this creme de menthe quickly takes over a drink. So, we’ve been looking for opportunities for the menthe to serve as a sort of accent to a drink, rather than playing the starring role.
In that vein, we hit upon an idea: what if we think of creme de menthe as an alternative to anise liqueur? We happen to like anise ourselves, but to our infinite sadness we’ve discovered that only a select few (Americans, at least) share our enthusiasm. Say you want an herbal grace note to your drink, but aren’t one of those anise fans. Maybe creme de menthe could be a softer, smoother, more crowd-pleasing alternative. So far, it seems like we’ve landed on something. We especially like it in this alternative version of the Waldorf.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 1/2 oz creme de menthe
- 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.
- Stir with ice until well-chilled, about 30 rotations.
- Strain into a cocktail glass
