Ice Cream Grasshopper Cocktail

Some say the "Grasshopper Cocktail" was invented in New Orleans circa 1920, but that it took a couple of decades to spread throughout much of the U.S. They aren't as popular (to my knowledge) as they were a few decades ago, and I first tasted this cocktail in the 1970s at a hotel restaurant (I'll guess 1976), where I had taken two of my employees to dinner, one of whom ordered a "Grasshopper." Your average bar did not have the ingredients to make such a drink. Understand, the use of ice cream for the drink was not common (they used cream), as far as I know, back then, but beverage companies are always looking for ways to spark interest in new versions of old drink recipes. As I recall, the "Grasshoppers" back then were usually in smaller glasses, not that you can't do that now.   

 

Ingredients (for each 10 to 12 ounce serving):

 

1 1/2 ounces green crème de menthe (it also comes in clear/white)

1 1/2 ounces clear crème de cacao (there is also dark)

1/3 cup milk

1 or 2 scoops vanilla ice cream

some ice cubes

 

Use a blender, add the ingredients and blend until you have something on the order of milkshake consistency. Pour into a 10 to 12 ounce glass with some ice cubes (you can stir in a little more milk to top off, if needed).

WORD HISTORY:

Insect-The "sect" part of this word is distantly related to "saw" (tool for cutting), a word from the Germanic roots of English, and it is more closely related to "segment," a word borrowed by English from Latin, and of course, it is related to a variety of words that also contain "sect," like: "bisect," "dissect," intersect," "sector," all words borrowed from Latin. The "in" part is a common prefix shared in various forms by Indo European languages going back to Indo European "en." Old Germanic and Latin had the same form, "in," although some derived Latin languages (Spanish, Portuguese and French) use "en," which is the general transliterated form for Greek, also. The "sect" part goes back to Indo European "sek," which meant "to cut." This gave Latin the verb "secare," which meant "to cut, to split, to cleave." The two parts gave Latin the verb "insecare," meaning, "to cut up, to divide by cutting." One of the participle forms was "insectus," meaning, "(that which has been) cut up," the accusative form of which, "insectum," was used as an adjective, but then as a noun meaning, "insect" (from the notion of the insect bodies being in segments). English borrowed the word as "insect" circa 1600.      

Brandy Alexander, A Favorite of Mine

This cocktail is well known from a variety of sources, but the 1962 movie, "The Days of Wine and Roses," starring Jack Lemon and Lee Remick, gave it a real boost. Back in the mid 1980s, I would go to John Q's Steakhouse, near Public Square here in Cleveland, and the bartender, Jim, fixed my Brandy Alexanders with ice cream. I haven't seen him for many years, but I hope he is well.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces brandy
1 1/2 ounces dark Creme de Cacao
3 ounces cream or vanilla ice cream (better)

nutmeg

If using cream, shake with ice and strain into a chilled glass, sprinkle nutmeg on top. For ice cream, blend ingredients, pour into a chilled glass and dust with nutmeg.

WORD HISTORY:
Brandy-This is a shortened form of the original "brandywine," which was borrowed from Dutch "brandewijn," literally, "burned or distilled wine,"  as it was distilled from wine into a stronger alcoholic drink (other fruit juices or grains with an alcohol content were also used). The shortened form "brandy" is from Dutch "branden," a cousin of English "burn," which goes back to Indo European "bhrenu," from the root "bhreu," which had the notion, "well up, boil up." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "brennanan," meaning "to burn," from the notion of "fire welling up." In English the "r" and vowel sounds were transposed, called,"metathesis," which also took place in other Germanic dialects and languages, including Dutch, which once had "bernen," but then went to the "r" before the vowel circa 1300 (perhaps by influence from German?).  

German has both "Branntwein" and "Weinbrand," with the latter meaning more specifically, "cognac," made from grapes, also at times spelled, "Kognac," in German, but German also borrowed the English word "Brandy," now a pretty common form. Swiss German dialect also uses, "Gebrannte Wasser," meaning "burned water," which puts it in the same category as English slang, "firewater" ( German slang also has "Feuerwasser," ="firewater")