Short drinks · Cognac · IBA official
Two ingredients and a cold glass: mellow cognac softened by clean peppermint. It is sweet at first, then warm, and the menthol leaves a cool finish that works like a mint after a big dinner.
1¾ oz
cognace.g. Hennessy · Rémy Martin · Martell · Courvoisier · Pierre Ferrand
¾ oz
white crème de menthee.g. Get 31 · Giffard · Bols · Marie Brizard
Garnish: No garnish · Ice: Served up, no ice
Stinger
Sweet peppermint and mellow cognac with dried fruit and a cooling, long finish. Strong and smooth.
The Stinger appears in American drinks books in the early twentieth century; Jacques Straub included it in his 1914 book Drinks. It quickly became a fashionable nightcap in New York high society, and its early popularity is often linked to the circle around the Vanderbilt family, although no single inventor is proven.
Through the middle of the century it was a standard order among well-off diners and appeared in films and novels as a sign of sophistication. Originally it was served straight up; later many bars poured it over crushed ice, which made it colder and lighter.
The International Bartenders Association lists the Stinger among its unforgettable classics and specifies cognac with white crème de menthe, stirred and served straight up.
The IBA recipe uses 50 ml cognac and 20 ml white crème de menthe, stirred and served straight up.
The IBA serves it straight up in a cocktail glass. Serving it over crushed ice is a common, equally valid style.
Traditionally after dinner, as a digestif or nightcap.
The perfect sound
A smooth after dinner nightcap.
Reader rating
Thanks for rating
Updated:
