Grasshopper
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 12.5% ABV ∙
The Grasshopper is an IBA dessert cocktail of equal parts white crème de cacao, green crème de menthe, and cream, shaken and served up. Cool mint leads over a chocolate sweetness, the cream folding both into a smooth, milkshake-like body with a lingering minty finish — best after dinner.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: White Crème de Cacao 30 mlCrème de Menthe green 30 mlSingle cream/half-and-half 30 ml
- Strain into the chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a mint leaf (opt.)
Tips
- Shake hard and long enough to fully emulsify the cream — a short shake leaves it thin and separated.
- Use fresh, cold cream or half-and-half straight from the fridge; warm cream curdles faster against the shake's dilution.
- Pre-chill the glass before straining so the drink doesn't lose its frothy texture to a warm glass.
History
The Grasshopper traces to Tujague's, a French Quarter restaurant and bar in New Orleans, whose owner Philip Guichet is said to have invented the drink in 1918 for a cocktail competition in New York, where it took second place before becoming a permanent fixture back at his own bar.
The story is more contested than the bar's own telling suggests, however. A nearly identical drink of crème de menthe and crème de cacao, layered pousse-café style, had already appeared a decade earlier in William "Cocktail" Boothby's 1908 book The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them, and an even earlier "grasshopper cocktail" turns up in an 1874 Nebraska newspaper, though without any recipe attached. No evidence has surfaced confirming that the then-21-year-old Guichet ever actually traveled to New York for the competition at all. What Tujague's version does appear to have introduced is the fuller, richer build — brandy and cream added to the earlier two-ingredient formula, shaken instead of layered.
The drink spread widely through the American South during the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a fixture of supper clubs and dinner parties well beyond New Orleans.
The version listed by the International Bartenders Association among its Contemporary Classics doesn't differ in ingredients from the traditional build — it simply codifies the crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and cream combination as an internationally recognized standard.
FAQ
How do you make a homemade Grasshopper?
Shake white crème de cacao, green crème de menthe, and cream hard with plenty of ice until well chilled and frothy, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Finish with an optional mint leaf garnish. The result is a smooth, dessert-like drink around 12.5% ABV.
What ingredients do you need for a Grasshopper?
You need three ingredients in equal measure: white crème de cacao, green crème de menthe, and cream (or half-and-half), plus ice for shaking. A mint leaf is the traditional optional garnish.
Is a Grasshopper shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The cream needs the vigorous agitation of a shake to emulsify with the liqueurs into a smooth, frothy texture; stirring would leave it thin and poorly blended.
How strong is a Grasshopper?
About 12.5% ABV, making it one of the lighter IBA cocktails. The cream and liqueurs dilute the alcohol considerably compared to a spirit-forward drink, so it drinks more like a dessert than a strong cocktail.
