Very cool!
Az got that for me.
I can't get back to Wisconsin this holiday season, so I'm bringing Wisconsin here.
It's actually Christmas Eve if you're watching this as it comes out, so Merry Christmas to
all of those that celebrate Christmas.
If you don't, happy Friday.
The two drinks we're making here are the blended Grasshopper, and the Pink Squirrel -
which is also blended.
They're ice cream drinks.
These drinks come from Wisconsin supper clubs.
What is a Wisconsin supper club?
It's a crazy phenomenon that I adore.
Some people think of these drinks as guilty pleasures.
Some people say they aren't even serious cocktails.
To that I say, "Get da heck outta here!
Two, tree of these and you will be happy."
If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes.
And let's go make some ice cream drinks.
To the bar.
Wait - right here.
[intro music]
Both of these cocktails were introduced to me at a supper club.
And if you have never been to a supper club, it might be difficult to understand what it is.
If you have been to a supper club, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Supper clubs aren't only in Wisconsin.
However, Wisconsin supper clubs are kind of their own culture in and among themselves.
They are stuck in time.
I think their hay-day was probably the 40s-50s.
There have been books written about supper clubs, there have been documentaries about supper clubs.
I just know them from going, and what I make of the places.
Their menus are a kind of comfort food.
They"re very simple.
Friday nights, you're going to get a fish fry.
There's going to be a prime rib special.
Broasted chicken.
Broasted?
Broasted - yeah.
It's like this subculture of restaurants that make you feel like you're being fancy
because there's a white table cloth, but it's actually rather casual - and very social.
All of these places have a bar that is attached to it, and I would say the bar is actually the heart of the supper club.
If you're in Wisconsin, you'll probably have a brandy old fashioned, maybe a brandy manhattan.
Then you go have your dinner, and then you come back and you sit at the bar,
and you maybe have a dessert cocktail.
Now, Wisconsin is America's Dairyland, so it's no surprise that they mix ice cream into their dessert cocktails.
Some supper clubs will have an extensive menu of ice cream drinks.
The two that I think of are the Grasshopper and the Pink Squirrel.
Now the Grasshopper was not born in Wisconsin.
The Grasshopper was born in New Orleans at a bar called Tujague's in 1919.
By a gentleman who was called Philibert Guichet.
And in that cocktail he had no ice cream.
The ice cream was added later - I presume in the state of Wisconsin.
However, the Pink Squirrel was born in Wisconsin, and that original cocktail did have ice cream in it.
That was created by Bryant Sharp in 1941 - who owned Bryant's Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee.
That's a place worth checking out if you're in Milwaukee.
I've read that they no longer put in the crème de cacao, but I'm doing it the original way.
Now before we get started we are going to make a whipped cream to put on top.
And for that I'm doing my own twist on whipped cream.
You'll need two cups of heavy cream - or full fat coconut milk if you wanna go dairy-free.
To that, add one tablespoon of powdered sugar, and two ounces of green Chartreuse.
I've also done it with Angostura Bitters, which works really well, but you only need
half an ounce of bitters instead of two ounces because it's strong.
I'm using a whipped cream canister, but you can do this the traditional way as well.
Set this off to the side, and then we can go ahead and build the cocktails.
Now the booze.
For both of these cocktails we're going to need crème de cacao.
For the Grasshopper, we'll need crème de menthe,
and for the Pink Squirrel, we'll need crème de noyaux.
All of these are crème liqueurs.
Créme liqueurs does not mean cream.
It just means a spirit with high sugar content.
The crème de cacao - this comes in dark and light crème de cacao.
It's a chocolate liqueur.
This one in particular has notes of vanilla, it's kinda milk chocolaty, and it's real easy to work with.
As for the crème de menthe, this is a white crème de menthe,
and for a traditional Grasshopper you'd actually want the green crème de menthe.
Here in Chicago, I really struggled to find a green crème de menthe, but I thought
that's okay, I've got a white one at home that I like very much.
And I'm gonna add food coloring to make it green.
You don't have to do that, that's optional.
But it looks kinda fun - it's a Grasshopper.
As for this one - the crème de noyaux.
Créme de noyaux is a crème liqueur that kind of tastes like almonds, but there are no almonds.
It's not an almond flavored liqueur.
It's actually made from the kernels of an apricot pit.
It's also made from peach kernels, the pits of cherries.
I was under the impression that all of this turns to cyanid when you eat it, but uhh -
Let's make these.
As far as the booze portion of all of this, it's very simple.
And both of these are blended cocktails.
So if you have a blender, that's gonna work beautifully.
I'm using my trusty immersion blender.
I'm gonna start with the Grasshopper.
For the Grasshopper, one and a half ounces of crème de menthe,
and one and a half ounces of crème de cacao.
Now onto the Pink Squirrel.
We'll do one and a half ounces of crème de noyaux,
and one and a half ounces of crème de cacao.
Now the part that makes it extra fun - ice cream!
Use your favorite vanilla ice cream, or sub out your favorite non-dairy ice cream.
It's all gonna be tasty.
I have three scoops of ice cream I'm gonna put in each of these tins.
And you want a good scoop of ice cream - not a hollow scoop of ice cream.
I used to work in an ice cream shop, actually.
That's right, I was a soda jerk.
I scooped ice cream all summer long.
It was a great summer.
That was before I bartended.
Actually I should've started with the ice cream.
This is gonna splash.
Be very careful.
Now you could just blend this up.
I'm actually gonna add more cream and a little bit of crushed ice.
So to each of these, you can add one ounce of half-and-half.
You could use milk, you could use your favorite non-dairy creamer.
And I'm gonna add just a small scoop of crushed ice -
probably comes to - I don't know - quarter cup to a half cup.
It's Wisconsin-style.
Doesn't matter.
And finally, green food coloring for the Grasshopper.
I'm only doing this for authenticity's sake because I don't have green crème de menthe.
You don't have to put this in there if you don't want to.
I'm only adding two drops.
One, two.
Then blend away.
[blender whirring]
Now grab your glasses!
I'm doing a frozen goblet.
There we are.
And we can go ahead and pour these right in.
So now we can add our Chartreuse whipped cream - carefully.
[foaming sound]
I'm gonna grate some nutmeg over the Pink Squirrel.
A cherry!
And chocolate over the Grasshopper.
And it get's a sprig of mint.
Straws - just to make this easier.
You also might want to serve it with a spoon.
The Pink Squirrel and the Grasshopper - blended.
That's just decadent - that looks great!
I shall start with the Pink Squirrel.
The crème de noyaux makes it taste like almond - even though there's not almond in it.
And of course rich chocolate - it's a milkshake!
You don't taste booze.
Now, the Grasshopper.
This makes me think of supper clubs.
The Chartreuse whipped cream.
Mmm
In the whipped cream, I only put a little bit of powdered sugar,
so it's not an overly sweet whipped cream.
Which is good because these drinks are plenty sweet.
Oh man!
Mm-hmm
That is crazy good!
What I love about these drinks is that you don't have to take cocktails too seriously.
If you enjoy drinking it, then that's the perfect cocktail for you.
Grasshopper, Pink Squirrel, whatever your favorite ice cream critter is.
Thank you for watching, like and subscribe, and I will see you next time.
Cheers!
Mmm
Now I've gotta go run and do some sit-ups.
[music fades]