Grasshopper
A Grasshopper is 20ml of green crème de menthe, 20ml of white crème de cacao and 20ml of fresh cream, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, with an optional mint leaf. About 1.0 UK unit. The measures are the IBA’s. There is no base spirit. Two liqueurs at about 24% ABV share the job, so it is one of the gentler drinks served up. The cream is dairy, so it is not for anyone avoiding milk. Tujague’s restaurant in New Orleans says on its own page that Philip Guichet invented it in 1918 for a cocktail competition in New York City, where it came second, and gives its drink as white and green crème de menthe, white and dark crème de cacao, cream and brandy. The Oxford Companion, in an entry by Robert F. Moss, dates the legend to 1928 or thereabouts, says no documentary evidence substantiates it, and finds the first printed reference to a Grasshopper cocktail in February 1950, with the Midwest the likeliest place of origin.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Mint leaf (optional)
Ingredients
20ml
Green, at our working figure of about 24% ABV. This is the one place the green bottle is needed.
20ml
White, at about 24% ABV. Chocolate without the brown colour, which would muddy the green.
Instructions
Chill a Nick and Nora glass.
Add the crème de menthe, crème de cacao and cream to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled glass.
Float a mint leaf on top, if using.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours (shaken hard 10 to 12 seconds, double strained, Nick and Nora glass)). Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Green menthe, white cacao. The green bottle gives the colour; brown cacao would turn it khaki, and white menthe leaves it pale with no reason for the name. Give it all of the 10 to 12 seconds, shaken hard. Cream needs air to turn silky, and a short shake leaves it merely cold. Double strain to keep ice shards off the top. Use fresh single cream, cold from the fridge. Double cream makes it heavy, and cream near its date can split against the liqueurs.
Behind the Grasshopper
Flavour Profile
Tujague’s Account
Tujague’s, a restaurant and bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, credits its owner Philip Guichet with the Grasshopper. Its own page says he invented it in 1918 for a cocktail competition in New York City, where it came second, and that it has remained a winner at the bar since; its history page names the Grasshopper among its signature cocktails.
The Oxford Companion puts the New Orleans legend at 1928 or thereabouts and says no documentary evidence substantiates it. According to the Companion, the printed record points to the Midwest and the years just after the Second World War: the first known printed reference to a Grasshopper cocktail is in Neal O’Hara’s column in the Boston Traveler in February 1950. The drink enjoyed a surge of popularity in the 1950s, the Companion says, but its vogue was short-lived.
Two Liqueurs and No Spirit
The Grasshopper follows the Alexander’s frame of equal parts with cream, but neither liqueur is a base spirit. At 20ml each and about 24% ABV they make roughly one unit between them, about half what a spirit-based drink of the same size carries.
Mint and chocolate work for a reason. Menthol reads as cold whatever the temperature, and cacao reads as rich and a little bitter. Over cream the mint keeps the chocolate from cloying, and the chocolate keeps the mint from tasting of toothpaste.
The Colour Is in the Bottles
Crème de menthe comes green or white; crème de cacao comes white or brown. Only one pairing gives a Grasshopper: green with white. Cream softens the green to a pale mint.
The Grasshopper and Its Relatives
The Grasshopper beside other cream drinks built on crème de cacao
Grasshopper (IBA)
- First part
- 20ml green crème de menthe
- Second part
- 20ml white crème de cacao
- Cream
- 20ml
- Base spirit
- None
Alexander
- First part
- 30ml London Dry gin
- Second part
- 30ml white crème de cacao
- Cream
- 30ml
- Base spirit
- Gin
Golden Cadillac
- First part
- 30ml Galliano
- Second part
- 30ml white crème de cacao
- Cream
- 30ml
- Base spirit
- None
| Drink | First part | Second part | Cream | Base spirit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasshopper (IBA) | 20ml green crème de menthe | 20ml white crème de cacao | 20ml | None |
| Alexander | 30ml London Dry gin | 30ml white crème de cacao | 30ml | Gin |
| Golden Cadillac | 30ml Galliano | 30ml white crème de cacao | 30ml | None |
How to Serve It
Up, very cold, after dinner, in a small chilled glass. A single mint leaf on the surface adds scent. It is a dessert drink, and one is usually enough.
For gin with cacao and cream, make an Alexander; for Galliano in place of the mint, a Golden Cadillac.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Crème de MentheCrème de menthe is a sweet peppermint liqueur, usually about 24% ABV, sold clear (white) or green, and Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, says colour is the only difference between Bols’s two. "Crème de" is a legal term under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, setting a sugar floor of 250g per litre; there is no cream involved. In our recipes it cools and sweetens two after-dinner drinks, the Stinger and the Grasshopper.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Grasshopper?
Where was the Grasshopper invented?
Why green crème de menthe and white crème de cacao?
Does a Grasshopper contain dairy?
Is there a frozen Grasshopper?
How is it related to the Alexander?
How strong is a Grasshopper?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Tujague’s, “The Bar at Tujague’s” (the restaurant’s own page: the Grasshopper invented by Philip Guichet in 1918 for a cocktail competition in New York City, second place; its recipe of white and green crème de menthe, white and dark crème de cacao, heavy whipping cream and brandy).
- Tujague’s, “History” (the restaurant’s own page: Philip Guichet, Sr bought the restaurant; the Grasshopper named among its signature cocktails).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Robert F. Moss), “The Grasshopper” (secondary source: the legend dates it to 1928 or thereabouts at Tujague’s with no documentary evidence; first printed reference to the cocktail February 1950; popularity surged in the 1950s; Boothby’s layered Grasshopper of 1908).
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Golden Cadillac
A Golden Cadillac is 30ml of Galliano, 30ml of white crème de cacao and 30ml of cold single cream, shaken very hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. No garnish. About 2.0 UK units. It contains dairy. It is a Grasshopper with Galliano in place of the crème de menthe. In our view the vanilla of the Galliano meets chocolate and cream in equal thirds, and the drink comes out gold, thick and plainly a dessert. It comes from Poor Red’s, a barbecue restaurant in El Dorado, California, where, as the legend goes in Cheers, a drinks trade magazine, it was first mixed in 1952 for a couple with a new gold Cadillac.
Alexander
An Alexander is 30ml each of London Dry gin, white crème de cacao and fresh single cream, shaken very hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora, with nutmeg grated over the top. About 1.9 UK units. It contains dairy. This is the older of the two Alexanders. Difford’s Guide says the original Alexander first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916, as equal parts gin, crème de cacao and cream. The Oxford Companion says it first appeared in print in the United States in 1914, and that the claim with most support traces it to Troy Alexander at Rector’s in New York. The cognac version came later and now holds the name in most bars: the IBA’s Alexander is cognac, brown crème de cacao and cream. Gin changes the drink more than you might expect. Juniper and citrus peel cut through the cream where cognac sinks into it, so this one is paler, drier and less of a pudding. Difford’s Guide offers two namesakes, a Philadelphia pitcher and a bartender at Rector’s, and calls the eponym uncertain.
Silk Stocking
A Silk Stocking is 45ml of blanco tequila, 22.5ml of white crème de cacao, 22.5ml of single cream and 10ml of grenadine, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, with ground cinnamon dusted on top. About 2.3 UK units. It contains dairy. It is the Alexander’s frame of spirit, cacao and cream with tequila as the spirit. Blanco’s pepper and green agave cut through the cream the way juniper does in the original gin Alexander, and the grenadine adds pomegranate tartness and the pink colour. It is younger than it looks. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, gives the earliest book reference it has seen as Helen Spence’s Cocktails for Two of 1982, where it is a blended drink. The shaken version most bars pour now owes much to Ryan Chetiyawardana’s 2009 recipe, which Difford’s says he shared in London during the UK finals of the World Class competition.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026