Green Crème de Menthe is a sweet, mint-flavoured liqueur that is made from a combination of peppermint oil and neutral spirits. The liqueur is then sweetened with sugar and coloured green, typically with food colouring. The resulting liqueur is bright green and has a strong, sweet mint flavour.
There are hundreds of drinks you can make with Green Crème de Menthe, however, chances are slim you’ll find a bar that will serve any drink with Green Crème de Menthe. Most bars do not carry this liqueur as Green Crème de Menthe fell out of style decades ago. People stopped ordering a Grasshopper or other once famous Crème de Menthe cocktails in the 70s.
Green Crème de Menthe Cocktails
Why is Green Crème de Menthe No Longer Popular?
Green Crème de Menthe is no longer popular for several reasons:
- Increased Variety – In the 1800s when this liqueur was created, Mint grew everywhere making it super accessible, cheap, sustainable and a good candidate to make a Liqueur out of. Since then, other ingredients have become much easier to obtain leading to more popular liqueurs as well as increased variety.
- Artificial Taste – Modern Green Crème de Menthe is often used with mint oils and artificial flavours and colouring.
- Shift to Dry Cocktails – Modern drinkers prefer boozy and strong cocktails over sweet and minty cocktails. Thus bars stopped carrying it as there is no demand for Green Crème de Menthe drinks.