Crème de menthe

A small glass of green crème de menthe

Crème de menthe is a sweet, mint-flavored alcoholic beverage. Its flavor is primarily derived from Corsican mint. It is available commercially in a colorless (called "white") and a green version (which obtains its color from the mint leaves or from the addition of coloring, if extract and not the leaves are used to make the liqueur). Both varieties have similar flavors and are interchangeable in recipes, except where the color is important.

Crème de menthe is used as an ingredient in several cocktails, such as the Grasshopper and the Stinger, and is also served as an after-dinner drink and can be used in food recipes as a flavoring (see Mint chocolate).

The traditional formula involves steeping dried peppermint leaves in grain alcohol for several weeks (creating a naturally green color), followed by filtration and the addition of sugar.^[1]

A simple recipe is to mix the crème de menthe with ice cream which creates a mint like shake. Toppings are also sometimes used including nuts, or pecans.

It is also used in a popular drink in Australia called Minted Peas, which is a mix of crème de menthe and coke.

Literature

• It gives its name to the sixth chapter of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love and is therein mentioned as Rupert Birkin's drink: "Birkin was drinking something green [...]"
• In Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle a bartender invents a cocktail on the day of the bombing of Hiroshima called the End of The World Delight. It is Crème de menthe poured into a hollow pineapple with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
• In Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, Jamie, a frustrated lesbian musician, becomes an alcoholic who prefers to drink crème de menthe "...because it kept out the cold in the winter, and because, being pepperminty and sweet, it reminded her of the bulls-eyes at Beedles."
• In Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, Rose drinks creme de menthe after going for a walk with Neil. He accuses her of drinking it because it contrasts with her hair. Cassandra later drinks it in the pub.
• In Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels, Poirot is shown to favor liqueurs in general, and Creme de Menthe in particular, as his drink of choice.
• In Ian Fleming's Thunderball, a creme de menthe frappé (with a maraschino cherry on top) is Emilio Largo's favorite drink.

Media

• In an episode of the television sitcom Grounded For Life, Sean and Eddie receive an exceptionally large shipment of Crème De Menthe instead of the alcohol they ordered for their bar, and struggle to successfully sell it.
• In an episode of Black Books a drunken Bernard steals a pensioner's Crème de Menthe after inadvertently sitting at her table at the pub.
• Is the favorite drink of Ted Baxter (played by Ted Knight) from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
• In the movie 28 Days Later when the two survivors (Jim and Celina) arrive at the apartment of Frank and Hannah [Daughter of Frank] the group partakes in a celebratory drink of Creme De Menthe.
• In the UK's Channel 4 production of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, when DeDe Halcyon-Day first visits Mary Ann Singleton's apartment, she is offered Creme de menthe but turns it down when she finds out that Mary Ann doesn't have white but only the green kind.
• In episode 12, "Nixon vs. Kennedy," of Season One of the television series Mad Men, the office staff at Sterling Cooper, running low on whiskey and vodka at an election night office party, switches to surplus Creme de Menthe, dispensed out of a water cooler.
• In episode 13, "Full Measures" of Season three of the television series Breaking Bad, the character Gale offers Gus a Crème de menthe when Gus visits him at home.
• In episode 9 of the first series of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mr Freight walks in wearing underpants, sequins, eye make-up, white wellies, and necklace. Mr Freight: "Oh? My God, what a simply ghastly place", to which Mr Equator replies "Not too good is it? A pint of crème de menthe for my friend".
• In episode 5 of series 2 of the BBC sitcom Only Fools And Horses (The Yellow Peril), Del uses Crème de Menthe as a malaproprism of crème de la crème when describing Rodney's and Granddad's skills as painters.
• In Inn Escapable (episode 7) of the 8th series of King of Queens, Aurthur tries to kick a one-night stand out and claims Crème de menthe is at fault for the misunderstanding that he wanted more out of the relationship.
• In the season 4 finale of The Venture Bros., "Operation: P.R.O.M.", Rusty Venture spikes the homeschool prom punch with Crème de menthe, which is then also spiked by Jefferson Twilight with Sambuca, leading to the majority of the partygoers to become highly inebriated.
• At or near the end of many episodes of Ground Force, Alan Titchmarsh would tell Tommy Walsh to make his a Crème de menthe frappé when Tommy said "Met you at the bar/pub then" (or words to that effect).
• In season 1, episode 2 of Not Going Out, Tim drinks Crème de menthe.

References

1. ^ Classic Liquors Products/Flavors