The Grasshopper
The Grasshopper, a bright green, energetic cocktail, is the signature cocktail of Tujague’s, New Orleans’ second oldest restaurant, which Guilaume Tajugue opened in 1856. After he died in 1912, his sister started running the restaurant. But a few years later, when her husband died, she sold Tujague’s to Jean-Dominic Castet and his business partner Philip Guichet. The story goes that in 1919, Philbert Guichet won second prize for his Grasshopper cocktail in a New York cocktail competition. But there’s no documented evidence to support this win, nor any that proves he created it in the first place.
In the 1908 book World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them, by William “Cocktail Bill” Boothby, one will find a recipe for a drink called the Grasshopper, which calls for equal amounts of crème de menthe layered over crème de cacao. The book attributes it to “Harry O'Brien, late of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco."
Somewhere along the road, cream is added as a third ingredient, making it the shaken cocktail we’re all so familiar with today. Several sources attribute the creation of the modern day Grasshopper to the late 1940s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. one piece in particular, from Sunday, 19 February, 1950, of Monroe Morning World, from Louisiana, USA, says:
“New Idea Introduced by Restaurant Owner” [who uses his artistic talent to illustrate his menus and found his drawing of a Mexican sombrero increased sales of Mexican dishes] “Later he tried the same procedure for the cocktail lounge at the Hollywood. This time it was a grasshopper perched on a cocktail glass, drawn to order for the purpose of introducing a new drink, the “grasshopper”, originated a year ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first night the drink was served at the Hollywood, sales pushed up. The same thing occurred when Reagan introduced another beverage, the Moscow mule…”
However, a piece on 8 September 1950, titled “Grasshopper Cocktail” by Clementine Paddleford in The Baltimore Sun challenges the cocktail’s origins, saying:
"To A Man's Heart
Grasshopper Cocktail
By Clementine Paddleford
IN MARCH we mentioned the grasshopper cocktail, met for the first time at a wine and food tasting, and credited its creation to Fazio's Restaurant in Milwaukee. The cocktail, in case you have forgotten, is made with one-third white cacao, one-third green creme de menthe and one-third light cream in a quick shake with shaved ice. The drink pours a soft pastel green, palate caressing and sweet enough to be served as dessert.
Norden Van Home, of Rye, N.Y., writes we are wrong on the grasshopper's origin. "The drink appeared first at Charlie's in Minneapolis."'
While at the aforementioned Charlie's, Mr. Van Home chanced upon another fine mixture which he calls a cross between a grasshopper and a brandy Alexander and a stinger. He admits it sounds sort of hideous, but promises that a sip will quell any misapprehensions. It goes under the sinister title of Didy-Wah-Didie.
The proportions are as follows: Two parts brandy, one part green creme de menthe, one part brown for white) creme de cacao and one healthy dash of cream.
Ingredients
Method
Pour all the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice.
Shake briskly for a few seconds.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Optionally, garnish with a mint leaf.
