Stinger
4.0 64 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a old-fashioned glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of mint sprigs bouquet.
Method
- 3 SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
- 4 STRAIN into glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish
- 5 Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.
Flavour profile
26.2% alc./vol. · 1.7 standard drinks
History
Classically the Stinger is shaken and served straight-up in a chilled coupe. However, serving over crushed ice makes for a more refreshing peppermint and brandy digestif.
In the 1956 American musical comedy film High Society, Bing Crosby tells Grace Kelly how the Stinger got its name. "It's a Stinger. It removes the sting." The Stinger is featured in Jacques Straub's 1913 Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks. However, it gained popularity during the 1920's thanks to Reginald "Reggie" Vanderbilt, an American millionaire and the father of fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt. In his 2015 Updated & Revised Imbibe, David Wondrich recounts a story from a 1923 newspaper gossip page. It credits Reggie with inventing The Stinger. The article describes him as a keen cocktail maker who "was observed in all its pomp and glory in the bar of [his] home, and he himself was the high priest, the host, the mixer." His Fifth Avenue mansion's bar was reportedly modeled after the one in the William the Conqueror tavern in Normandy. The article claims "the 'Stinger' was his own invention, a short drink with a long reach, a subtle blending of ardent nectars, a boon to friendship, a dispeller of care." Reggie's passion for cocktails, particularly the Stinger, is said to have contributed to his death from liver failure on 4th September 1925. Similar drinks, under different names, existed as early as 1890, when Reggie was ten years old. Nevertheless, the name Stinger, derived from the boxing term for a blow to the head, did not appear until 1913. While a bartender named James B. Regan at New York's Knickerbocker Hotel is linked to it, the belief persists that Reggie not only adopted the Stinger but also named it. STINGER ½ Jigger Brandy. ½ Jigger Creme de Menthe White. 1 Lemon Peel. Shake, strain into Cocktail Glass.
Created by Reginald Vanderbilt