The Grasshopper, Reinvented

The Grasshopper is the cocktail that made peppermint liqueur a dinner-party staple, and then nearly ruined its reputation. Neon green, thick with cream and sugar, it became a retro curiosity: something your parents' generation ordered after dinner, and something almost nobody orders now. We think that's a shame, because underneath the colour there's a genuinely good idea. Here's the story of the classic, and how POLAR brings it back.

Where it came from

The popular origin story goes like this: in 1918, Philibert Guichet, owner of Tujague's restaurant in New Orleans, created the Grasshopper for a cocktail competition in New York, where it took second place. It went on to become a permanent fixture on the Tujague's menu, which is still the case today.

Like most good cocktail legends, the story is disputed. Some sources date the contest to 1919, and others have found no evidence that Guichet ever travelled to compete. An earlier version of the drink, without the cream, turns up in a 1908 cocktail book, and a rival account places its invention in Milwaukee in the 1950s. What isn't in doubt is the recipe that stuck: equal parts green crème de menthe, white crème de cacao and cream, shaken with ice.

What went wrong

The Grasshopper's problem was never the idea. Peppermint, chocolate and cream is one of the best flavour combinations there is. The problem was the execution. Mass-market crème de menthe is typically very sweet, and often dyed green, so the classic ends up thick, sugary and one-dimensional. Because the sweetness is built into the liqueur, there's nothing a bartender can do about it: you're stuck with whatever the bottle gives you.

The POLAR Grasshopper

With a lower-sugar liqueur, the Grasshopper becomes a different drink. POLAR is clear, clean and light, so the cocktail looks creamy and luxurious rather than lurid, and the mint tastes like mint rather than sweets.

• 30ml POLAR
• 30ml heavy cream
• 25ml crème de cacao blanco
• 5ml demerara syrup

Shake all the ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled coupe. Dust with chocolate powder.

The small measure of demerara syrup is the point. Because POLAR isn't doing the sweetening, you decide how much goes in, and a touch of demerara adds a warm, caramel note instead of just sugar. Add more or less to suit your taste.

Two more ways to play with it

If the Grasshopper is your gateway, here are two other creamy, indulgent POLAR serves from the same family.

Mint Condition is our riff on the mudslide.

• 25ml POLAR
• 25ml crème de cacao
• 25ml vodka
• 25ml coconut liqueur
• 25ml cream

Shake with ice, then pour into a glass over fresh ice. Finish with a dash of walnut bitters and garnish with mint.

Mint Coco Drift is a Bounty-bar-style short serve, and about as easy as it gets.

• 25ml POLAR
• 25ml crème de cacao
• 25ml coconut liqueur

Serve chilled. For extra indulgence, add cream or a scoop of ice cream.

The classic, but better

Cocktails like the Grasshopper don't need replacing. They need a better peppermint liqueur. Try POLAR at home, adjust the sugar to your own taste, and see what a cleaner mint does for a classic.