| IBA official cocktail | |
|---|---|
 Stinger cocktail served over ice in a rocks glass | |
| Type | Cocktail |
| Base spirit | |
| Served | Straight up: chilled, without ice |
| Standard garnish | Optional mint leave [sic] |
| Standard drinkware | .svg) |
| IBA specified ingredients† |
|
| Preparation | Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into chilled martini cocktail glass. |
| Commonly served | After Dinner (Before Dinner) |
| Notes | It has been suggested that during the 1920s the stinger ceased being an after-dinner cocktail, and instead should be consumed before dinner.[1] However, until recently the IBA listed the stinger as an after-dinner cocktail. |
| †Stinger recipe atInternational Bartenders Association | |
Astinger is a duococktail made by addingcrème de menthe tobrandy (although recipes vary). The cocktail's origins can be traced to the United States in the 1890s, and the beverage remained widely popular in America until the 1970s. It was seen as a drink of theupper class, and has had a somewhat wide cultural impact.
The stinger originated about 1890.[2] The cocktail may have been derived from The Judge, a cocktail made with brandy, crème de menthe, andsimple syrup found in William Schmidt's 1892 cocktail bookThe Flowing Bowl.[3] It was immediately popular inNew York City,[4] and quickly became known as a "society" drink (i.e. only for the upper classes).[1] According to bartender Jere Sullivan in his 1930 volumeThe Drinks of Yesteryear: A Mixology, the stinger remained a critical component of the bartender's repertoire untilProhibition.[5]
The stinger was not initially seen as a cocktail (i.e. a drink served before dinner), but rather adigestif (after-dinner drink).[1] Writing in the 1910s and 1920s, humoristDon Marquis's "Hermione" (a fictional daffy societydo-gooder) refused to refer to the stinger as a cocktail, indicating its status in upper-class society. Over time, however, the stinger came to be consumed like a cocktail.[1]
The stinger was a popular drink duringProhibition in the United States, for crème de menthe could mask the taste of the inferior-quality brandies then available.[6] The stinger began to lose favor with Americans in the late 1970s,[7] and was not a well-known cocktail in the early 21st century.[8]
The stinger is a duo cocktail, in that it uses only two ingredients: aspirit and aliqueur.[9] The classic stinger recipe uses three partsbrandy and one part white crème de menthe.[10] However, stinger recipes vary, and some recipes call for equal parts brandy and crème de menthe.[7] The mixture was originally stirred,[1] although modern recipes call for it to be shaken with cracked ice.[10] Early recipes required that a stinger be servedstraight up, but since the end of Prohibition in the United States[11] it became more common for it to be served over crushed ice.[12]
Cognac, a type of brandy, was identified as the basis for the stinger as early as 1905 inWilliam "Cocktail" Boothby's supplement to his 1900 book,American Bar-Tender.[1] In the 21st century, cognac is the most commonly used brandy cited by recipes for the stinger's base liquor.[4]
Cocktail guides recommend that it be served in a cocktail glass if served straight,[10] or in arocks glass if served with ice.[13]
Theamaretto stinger uses a 3-to-1 ratio ofamaretto to white crème de menthe,[14] while anIrish stinger uses equal partsIrish cream liqueur and white crème de menthe.[15]
TheMexican stinger substitutestequila for brandy.[16]
A "vodka stinger", also known as awhite spider,[17] uses vodka instead of brandy.[18]
Thewhite way cocktail, which celebratesBroadway theatre, is a stinger made withgin rather than brandy.[19]
Mixologists Oliver Said and James Mellgren cite a cocktail known as the stinger sour. It is made with a 3-to-1-to-1 ratio ofbourbon,peppermint schnapps, and lemon juice.[20] This cocktail is not technically a stinger, since it omits the crème de menthe.[6][21][22]
The stinger's popularity in New York City was so great thaturban legends attributed the cocktail's genesis to famous millionaireReginald Vanderbilt. It was further claimed that the stinger was Vanderbilt's favorite cocktail, and he spent hours making them for his guests.[1] He would shake them up for himself and friends in his barroom, always with a dash of absinthe added. But Vanderbilt did not call this drink the Brant or the Bartholdi—he called it the Stinger.[23]
The stinger's reputation as a high-society drink led to its appearance in several famous novels. James Bond and Tiffany Case each have a stinger in the 1956Ian Fleming novelDiamonds are Forever.[24] The spy Alec Leamas drinks stingers inJohn le Carré's 1963 novelThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold.[25]
As late as 1970, the vodka stinger was the drink of choice for Joanne in the musicalCompany byStephen Sondheim, with her calling for one in the song "The Ladies Who Lunch".[26]
The drink is also featured in the 2007Mad Men season one episode "Nixon v. Kennedy", set in 1960. The episode features stingers made withBacardi rum, as Bacardi was a series sponsor.[27]
Women inLawrence Block novels sometimes drink stingers. InThe Burglar Who Dropped In On Elvis Bernie's date "had two dry Rob Roys first, most of the dinner wine, and a stinger afterward. I had a Bloody Mary for openers, and my after-dinner drink was a cup of coffee. I felt like a cheap date."[28] And inThe Burglar in the Closet, "Frankie's drinking, on the other hand, was certainly serious enough to keep the Recovery Room anchored in grim reality. A stinger is always a reasonably serious proposition. A brace of stingers at four o'clock on a weekday afternoon is about as serious as you can get."[29]
The stinger was widely mentioned in American motion pictures. Dudley the angel (played by Cary Grant) orders a round of stingers while lunching with ladies from the church in the 1947 filmThe Bishop's Wife.[30] The evolving stinger (used with green rather than white crème de menthe) forms a plot point in the 1948 filmThe Big Clock, when George Stroud (Ray Milland) orders one and a random woman in the bar (Rita Johnson) already knows his name.[31] In the 1950Humphrey Bogart andGloria Grahame filmIn a Lonely Place, Dix Steele's lush friend Charlie orders a stinger at Paul's bar before the first fight scene. In the 1956Bing Crosby andFrank Sinatra filmHigh Society, Dexter-Haven's butler offers Stingers at lunch to those who over-indulged in champagne during the previous evening's party.[32] Cary Grant again orders stingers ("and keep them coming") as he tries to tolerate character Alice Kratzner's (Jayne Mansfield) empty-headed babbling in the 1957 comedy filmKiss Them for Me.[33] Mr. Dobitsch (Ray Walston) instructs hisMarilyn Monroe look-alike date (Joyce Jameson) in the 1960 filmThe Apartment to not spill the glasses of stingers she is holding as they exit their cab and enter C.C. Baxter's (Jack Lemmon) apartment at night for a tryst. In the 1975Warren Beatty filmShampoo, at the Republican Party dinner sceneGoldie Hawn says, "I'll have a stinger", to whichTony Bill replies, "Before dinner?"[34] In the 1983 filmGorky Park,William Hurt orders a stinger, andBrian Dennehy makes a rude remark indicating that the drink is not reputable.Roddy McDowall servesRuth Gordon a stinger in the filmLord Love a Duck (1966), claiming that it is called astinger because it "removes the sting" (of life), but admittedly, the drink he offers her looks nothing like a stinger.
