Crème de menthe

A small glass of green crème de menthe

Crème de menthe (pronounced [kʁɛm də mɑ̃t], French for "mint cream") is a sweet, mint-flavored alcoholic beverage. It is available commercially in a colorless version (called "white") and a green version (colored by the mint leaves or by added coloring if made from extract instead of leaves).^[1] Both varieties have similar flavor and are interchangeable in recipes, except where color is important. It is usually made with Corsican mint, which is steeped in grain alcohol for several weeks before it is filtered and sweetened to create the final product. It typically has 25% alcohol by volume.

Crème de menthe is an ingredient in several cocktails, such as the Grasshopper and the Stinger. It is also served as a digestif and used in cooking as a flavoring (see Mint chocolate). It is also a primary component of the popular South African shooter known as the Springbokkie.

Music[]

Sergei Rachmaninoff, although otherwise a teetotaler, found that a glass of crème de menthe steadied his nerves when playing the technically demanding piano score in the twenty-fourth variation of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He nicknamed the twenty-fourth the "Crème de Menthe Variation."^[2]

In popular culture[]

in episode 3 of the Tales of the City, Mary Ann Singleton offers green creme de menthe to guest DeDe Halcyon-Day, who prefers white and declines.
On Episode 3 of Season 3 of Agatha Christie's Poirot titled "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery", Poirot toasts Captain Hastings with a shot of crème de menthe for a mystery successfully solved.
In "The Visitors" sketch in a 1969 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Terry Gilliam plays an extremely effeminate, flamboyant, and stereotypically gay character, whose regular drink is a pint of crème de menthe.
In British comedy Black Books titular character Bernard Black mistakenly serves Manny someone else's crème de menthe during a drunken job interview.
On episode 22 of Season 2 of the sitcom Friends, "The One with the Two Parties", the character Phoebe Buffay offers a crème de menthe to Leonard Green to try and stall him from running into his wife.
On episode 7 of Season 3 on the Starz show Outlander, titled "Crème De Menthe", character Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), hides a murder victim in a cask of crème de menthe. He assures his wife, Claire (Caitriona Balfe), that no one will find him because he has never seen a Scotsman drink the said liqueur before.
In the popular Billy Connolly joke, "Two Scotsmen in Rome", crème de menthe is suggested to be the Pope's favoured beverage. This results in the two Scotsmen naively drinking the liqueur in pints.
In the twelfth episode of the first season of Mad Men, there is a shortage of alcohol during an office party for the presidential election. In response, members of the party raid a supply closet and fill an entire water cooler with crème de menthe for the party to enjoy.
In the movie 28 Days Later, character Frank suggests that they offer glasses of crème de menthe to Jim and Selena in honor of their first meeting.
In the thirteenth episode of the third season in the TV show Breaking Bad, character Gale Boetticher offers Gustavo Fring a glass when he visits Gale's apartment.
In the episode “The Gang Gets Quarantined“ from season 9 of the sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, character Dennis Reynolds claims that he keeps “a flask of crème de menthe behind the jukebox in the bar.”
In the episode “I Right the Wrongs” from season 4 of the sitcom Grounded for Life, bar owners Sean and Eddie Finnety are inadvertently given an enormous supply of crème de menthe from their supplier and are driven to unscrupulous means to unload all of it.
In the titular story of Nick Earles book Green, the narrator recounts his first drinking experience as an undergraduate. He regretfully orders creme de menthe.
In season 6 episode 5 of Rescue Me Main character Tommy Gavin tries to recall what happened the previous night when he blacked out after drinking a bottle of whiskey that was spiked with GHB. He wakes up in the morning with green lips and finds out that he was seen vomiting a green liquid in the lobby of an apartment building. This turned out to be the result of having also drunk an entire bottle of crème de menthe.
In "The Last Laugh," season 8, episode 6 of Matlock, Ben Matlock’s client, played by Milton Berle, is charged with murder when his glass of creme de menthe is found at a crime scene. The beverage is referenced throughout the episode and ultimately plays a key element in securing the client's acquittal.
In Daz Sampson's documentary film about the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, he refers to the achievement that participating in the contest is as "crème de menthe" as a malapropism for "crème de la crème".
In Outlander season 3 episode 7 'Creme de menthe' it was offered as an extra bonus to seal the sale of smuggled French Cognac.
In the movie Goodfellas, Henry Hill and Jimmy each have glasses of bright green, cream de menthe at their party before reporting to prison for beating the guy in Tampa.
In episode 250 of My Favorite Murder, a comedy and true-crime podcast, Georgia jokes that Karen's first drink after 2020 could be a crème de menthe.
In the 2014 movie, "The Letters", a drama that explores the life of Mother Teresa, it is referred to as "the green stuff".

References[]

^ Nelson's Encyclopaedia. 1907. p. 86. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
^ Rimm, Robert (2002). The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. p. 142. ISBN 1574670727. Retrieved 2013-03-18.

[1] Nelson's Encyclopaedia. 1907. p. 86. Retrieved 2020-01-22.

[2] Rimm, Robert (2002). The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. p. 142. ISBN 1574670727. Retrieved 2013-03-18.

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