Cocktail of the Month

Mixed by Jill Rowe/Staff Writer

For this particular cocktail of the month, let’s head back to 1918 for a New Orleans classic, the grasshopper. This electric green cocktail is sure to help you kick those winter blues out the door and usher in the spring!

1 oz Crème de menthe 1 oz Crème de cacao 1 oz heavy cream Shake all the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker until your mixture has a nice foamy consistency to it, and strain into a martini or coupe glass. Add chocolate shavings for a garnish.

The grasshopper is such a fun drink it only makes sense it comes from the birthplace of cocktails, New Orleans. Around 1910 Philibert Guichet’s family purchased the Tujague. The Tujague, established in 1856, is the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans, the birthplace of brunch, and home to the oldest stand-up bar in America. It is also said that liquid spirits aren’t the only ones found at the establishment. Owners, staff, and patrons have many stories featuring ghostly and unexplainable encounters. Ghosts tend to go to places they frequented when they were alive, so I’ll likely end up at Vortex Alley Brewing in my afterlife.

Philibert Guichet, proprietor and bartender of the Tujague, submitted his recipe for the grasshopper into a New York cocktail competition around 1918, where he secured second place. No one knows who took first place, but it wouldn’t be a good cocktail story without some fuzzy parts. Regardless, he added the cocktail to the menu, and it has remained a winner at Tujague’s bar ever since.

The traditional recipe for the grasshopper is equal parts Crème de menthe, Crème de cacao, and heavy cream. There have been many grasshopper variations in the century since it was first created. For many Midwest drinkers, the quintessential grasshopper is a blended dessert drink, swapping the heavy cream out for ice cream. You may choose to boost the alcohol content by adding a float of Brandy, giving the sweetness a slightly fruity undertone and a bit more of a kick.

This beautiful green cocktail is a great after-dinner drink that doubles as dessert! It’s also great for St. Patrick’s Day with its bright green color. Although there’s nothing Irish about it, here in America, we equate anything green with being Irish, so sip, enjoy and celebrate!

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Wow. I’m not certain what I was expecting, but this book was so much more. Trevor Noah is a comedian, the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. He was born in South Africa during apartheid to a white Swiss/German father and a black African mother.

Trevor’s memoir is a love letter to his mother. She grew up poor and alone. She was adventurous, fearless and deeply religious. Throughout Trevor’s childhood, she consistently provided him with books, opportunities and an education unavailable to almost all black South African children during apartheid. She raised Trevor to be a good man who could think for himself. She did everything within her power to ensure he would not be trapped in the socio-economic prison that was all life offered to most black men in South Africa, even after the end of apartheid. She didn’t see herself as a victim, although she and Trevor truly were. Her determination, integrity and grit are amazing. Trevor shares childhood stories – all-day church on Sunday, his mom throwing him out of a moving vehicle to keep them from being kidnapped, accidentally burning down a white family’s house, life in townships (think Nazi ghettos) and how he never fit in, anywhere. The stories are hilarious, heartbreaking and uplifting.

He discusses apartheid and explains how devastatingly effective it was, even long after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.

At one point, Trevor and his mom were also the victims of domestic abuse. He lived it. He knows the terror of living with a ticking time bomb. He understands loving and fearing the same person and the confusion that brings.

This is a truly amazing book. It made me stop and think, yet gave me hope.

ANDERSON J. DARK MYCHELLE M. HOLLIDAY