Between the Sheets
30 ml Cognac, 30 ml White rum, 20 ml Triple sec, 15 ml Lemon juice, 1 Lemon twist
Stinger
Cognac and crème de menthe - the smoothest thing on the after-dinner list.
Classic
Easy
3 min
Photo: Stinger Cocktail by Will Shenton · CC BY-SA 3.0 · All credits
Ingredients
- 50 ml Jigger The large side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 50 ml, with 25 ml on the other side. Cognac - A good VS or VSOP - this drink shows off the brandy
- 20 ml Spoons A tablespoon and a teaspoon. Crème de menthe - White, if you have it, so the drink stays clear
- 1 sprig Mint sprig (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Stir cognac and crème de menthe with ice, strain into a cold glass.
Method
- Chill a martini glass or a coupe.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add the cognac and the crème de menthe.
- Stir for 20 seconds, until properly cold and diluted.
- Strain into the chilled glass and float a mint leaf on top.
- Served over crushed ice in a rocks glass is the older way, and a very good one.
Serve it
Stinger
A drink of the 1890s, named by a New York clubman who is said to have felt the mint "sting" on the way down, and for half a century the standard way to end a smart dinner. It fell out of fashion when mint liqueur did, which is a shame, because the combination of good brandy and a small amount of cold mint is one of the cleverest things in this book.
Getting it right
The proportion is what makes it work: four or five parts brandy to one part crème de menthe, so the drink is brandy with a cool green shadow over it rather than a mint cocktail. Stir it rather than shake it - this is a clear, silken, grown-up drink and shaking gives it a foam it does not want. White crème de menthe keeps it elegant; the green sort tastes the same and makes it unmistakably 1950s. If your glass is a rocks glass, crushed ice is lovely and it turns the drink into a slow, chilly sipper.
Tasting notes
Warm grape and oak, then a cold breath of mint on the finish, and the two are quite distinct the whole way down. Smooth, quiet and rather sophisticated.
It is the after-dinner drink for people who find a Grasshopper too much and a Rusty Nail too sweet.
More Cognac cocktails
Brandy Alexander
30 ml Cognac, 30 ml Crème de cacao, 30 ml Double cream, 1 pinch Nutmeg
Horse's Neck
40 ml Cognac, 120 ml Ginger ale, 1 dash Angostura bitters, 1 Lemon twist