Hair of the Dog is Cookthink’s Monday morning cocktail column by Rob Chirico, the author of the Field Guide to Cocktails. Read more about Rob here.

This threadbare cocktail made from brandy or cognac and white crème de menthe clearly belongs to another era, and those of us who abhor sickly sweet cocktails would unanimously agree that this is a darned good thing.

The original Stingers that were popular in New York in the early 1900s were made exclusively with brandy, while cognac is often substituted nowadays. Over the first half of the last century, the Stinger developed a reputation as a sophisticate’s drink, and it eventually attained an international appeal. Like Grasshoppers, Spiders and other beastly beasties intended to give you a buzz, the Stinger is built around white crème de menthe — and there’s the rub.

Crème de menthe is a heavy, sweet liqueur that when drunk in large quantities will give the imbiber the distinct feeling that he has fallen out of an apple tree and landed on his head. David Embury in his Fine Art of Mixing Drinks makes no bones about it when he explains that “if you want to have a good, thorough, disgusting, reeling, puking drunk, and get that way as fast as possible,” crème de menthe is the way to go.

And yet, the Stinger managed to find its place in the hearts, and livers, of quite a number of individuals throughout its history, including the confirmed gin drinker Somerset Maugham and, of all people, Ian Fleming. It was also Evelyn Waugh’s cocktail of choice, but I hardly find that to be a surprise.

Stingers were initially post-prandials or night caps, but they have come to be appreciated before dinner as well (by the masochistic, no doubt). Since crème de menthe has a way of scaring off even the most adventurous of revelers, it is best to try mixing Stingers at the end of a party when guests are open to a little more experimentation. If you choose green crème de menthe over white, you have made an Emerald — and a grave mistake.

Food Affinities: Serve a Stinger with desserts that aren’t too sweet, as the crème de menthe well fills that department. Or, when diet-conscious guests forgo the dessert, mix up a Stinger as an alternative, particularly if you do not want them back.

Recipe: The Stinger (Hair of the Dog)

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