Archives

« Previous | Most recent | Next »

A quivering of mint over the cask-wood wine-depth of brandy

Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:11 PM

"I'm certain that most of you have never even heard of the stinger, and you should not feel ashamed. An obscure after-dinner drink, eighty years past the prime of its popularity, it is enjoyed now, when enjoyed at all, not really as a digestive but almost as a kind of liquor dessert. As such, the stinger is sometimes not even considered a "cocktail," which implies a libation to be consumed in quantity during pre-sit-down hours set aside for affected, if well-oiled, conversation. But a cocktail it certainly is, and, like all classic cocktails, the stinger has its singular pleasures."

Scott Eden discusses life as his father's designated stinger maker.

I've never had a stinger, although I've often considered the recipe. The creme de menthe always threw me off. Turns out that you're supposed to use white creme de menthe, which few bars now seem to stock -- that makes a big difference for my taste. I adopted the brandy-cased sidecar as my Official Drink of 2003, so perhaps the stinger would be a natural next beverage of choice....

Permanent link | Categories: Lush life

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey