Crème de menthe
Encyclopedia
Crème de menthe is a sweet, mint
Mentha
Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...

-flavored alcoholic beverage. Its flavor is primarily derived from Corsican mint. It is available commercially in a colorless (called "white") and a green version (which obtains its color from the mint leaves or from the addition of coloring, if extract and not the leaves are used to make the liqueur). Both varieties have similar flavors and are interchangeable in recipes, except where the color is important.

Crème de menthe is used as an ingredient in several cocktails, such as the Grasshopper and the Stinger, and is also served as an after-dinner drink and can be used in food recipes as a flavoring (see Mint chocolate
Mint chocolate
Mint chocolate, also known as chocolate mint, is a popular variety of flavored chocolate. It is created when mint flavoring, such as peppermint, spearmint, or crème de menthe, is added to plain chocolate. Chocolate mint also refers to an herb, specifically a hybrid mint plant, that tastes and...

).

The traditional formula involves steeping dried peppermint leaves in grain alcohol for several weeks (creating a naturally green color), followed by filtration and the addition of sugar.

A simple recipe is to mix the crème de menthe with ice cream which creates a mint like shake. Toppings are also sometimes used including nuts, or pecans.

It is also used in a popular drink in Australia called Minted Peas, which is a mix of crème de menthe and coke.

Literature

  • It gives its name to the sixth chapter of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love
    Women in Love
    Women in Love is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence published in 1920. It is a sequel to his earlier novel The Rainbow , and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, pursues a destructive relationship with Gerald Crich, an...

    and is therein mentioned as Rupert Birkin's drink: "Birkin was drinking something green [...]"
  • In Kurt Vonnegut
    Kurt Vonnegut
    Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...

    's Cat's Cradle
    Cat's Cradle
    Cat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way...

    a bartender invents a cocktail on the day of the bombing of Hiroshima
    Hiroshima
    is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

     called the End of The World Delight. It is Crème de menthe poured into a hollow pineapple with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
  • In Radclyffe Hall
    Radclyffe Hall
    Radclyffe Hall was an English poet and author, best known for the lesbian classic The Well of Loneliness.- Life :...

    's The Well of Loneliness
    The Well of Loneliness
    The Well of Loneliness is a 1928 lesbian novel by the British author Radclyffe Hall. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" is apparent from an early age...

    , Jamie, a frustrated lesbian musician, becomes an alcoholic who prefers to drink crème de menthe "...because it kept out the cold in the winter, and because, being pepperminty and sweet, it reminded her of the bulls-eyes at Beedles."
  • In Dodie Smith
    Dodie Smith
    Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith was an English novelist and playwright. Smith is best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Her other works include I Capture the Castle and The Starlight Barking....

    's I Capture the Castle
    I Capture the Castle
    I Capture the Castle is Dodie Smith's first novel, written in the 1940s during a sojourn in America. Smith was already an established playwright and later became famous for authoring the children's classic The Hundred and One Dalmatians....

    , Rose drinks creme de menthe after going for a walk with Neil. He accuses her of drinking it because it contrasts with her hair. Cassandra later drinks it in the pub.
  • In Agatha Christie
    Agatha Christie
    Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

    's Hercule Poirot
    Hercule Poirot
    Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...

     novels, Poirot is shown to favor liqueurs in general, and Creme de Menthe in particular, as his drink of choice.
  • In Ian Fleming
    Ian Fleming
    Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...

    's Thunderball
    Thunderball
    Thunderball may refer to:*Thunderball , a 1961 James Bond novel by Ian Fleming**Thunderball , a 1965 film adaptation of the novel starring Sean Connery**Thunderball , the soundtrack from the film, or the title song...

    , a creme de menthe frappé (with a maraschino cherry on top) is Emilio Largo's favorite drink.

Media

  • In an episode of the television sitcom Grounded For Life
    Grounded for Life
    Grounded for Life is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001 as a mid-season replacement on the FOX Network. It was created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin. It ran for two seasons on the network until being cancelled only two episodes into its third season...

    , Sean and Eddie receive an exceptionally large shipment of Crème De Menthe instead of the alcohol they ordered for their bar, and struggle to successfully sell it.
  • In an episode of Black Books
    Black Books
    Black Books is a British sitcom television series created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan and produced by Nira Park, first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2004...

    a drunken Bernard steals a pensioner's Crème de Menthe after inadvertently sitting at her table at the pub.
  • Is the favorite drink of Ted Baxter
    Ted Baxter
    Ted Baxter is a fictional character on the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show . Portrayed by Ted Knight, the Baxter character is a broad parody of a vain, shallow, buffoonish TV newsman. Knight's comedic model was William Powell, and he also drew on various Los Angeles newscasters, including George...

     (played by Ted Knight
    Ted Knight
    Ted Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...

    ) from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
    The Mary Tyler Moore Show
    The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...

    .
  • In the movie 28 Days Later
    28 Days Later
    28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...

    when the two survivors (Jim and Celina) arrive at the apartment of Frank and Hannah [Daughter of Frank] the group partakes in a celebratory drink of Creme De Menthe.
  • In the UK's Channel 4 production of Armistead Maupin
    Armistead Maupin
    Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. is an American writer, best known for his Tales of the City series of novels, based in San Francisco.-Early life:...

    's Tales of the City, when DeDe Halcyon-Day first visits Mary Ann Singleton's apartment, she is offered Creme de menthe but turns it down when she finds out that Mary Ann doesn't have white but only the green kind.
  • In episode 12, "Nixon vs. Kennedy," of Season One of the television series Mad Men
    Mad Men
    Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...

    , the office staff at Sterling Cooper, running low on whiskey and vodka at an election night office party, switches to surplus Creme de Menthe, dispensed out of a water cooler.
  • In episode 13, "Full Measures" of Season three of the television series Breaking Bad
    Breaking Bad
    Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...

    , the character Gale offers Gus a Crème de menthe when Gus visits him at home.
  • In episode 9 of the first series of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mr Freight walks in wearing underpants, sequins, eye make-up, white wellies, and necklace. Mr Freight: "Oh? My God, what a simply ghastly place", to which Mr Equator replies "Not too good is it? A pint of crème de menthe for my friend".
  • In episode 5 of series 2 of the BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     sitcom Only Fools And Horses
    Only Fools and Horses
    Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...

    (The Yellow Peril
    The Yellow Peril
    "The Yellow Peril" is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fifth episode of series 2, and was first screened on 18 November 1982.-Synopsis:...

    ), Del uses Crème de Menthe as a malaproprism of crème de la crème when describing Rodney's and Granddad's skills as painters.
  • In Inn Escapable (episode 7) of the 8th series of King of Queens, Aurthur tries to kick a one-night stand out and claims Crème de menthe is at fault for the misunderstanding that he wanted more out of the relationship.
  • In the season 4 finale of The Venture Bros., "Operation: P.R.O.M.", Rusty Venture spikes the homeschool prom punch with Crème de menthe, which is then also spiked by Jefferson Twilight with Sambuca
    Sambuca
    Sambuca is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as white sambuca to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue in colour or bright red ....

    , leading to the majority of the partygoers to become highly inebriated.
  • At or near the end of many episodes of Ground Force
    Ground Force
    Ground Force was a British garden makeover television series originally broadcast by the BBC between 1997 and 2005. The series was originally hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh and was produced by Endemol for the BBC.-Production:...

    , Alan Titchmarsh
    Alan Titchmarsh
    Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...

     would tell Tommy Walsh to make his a Crème de menthe frappé when Tommy said "Met you at the bar/pub then" (or words to that effect).
  • In season 1, episode 2 of Not Going Out, Tim drinks Crème de menthe.
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