This recipe is so simple that it almost feels like cheating. Two ingredients, no shaking—really, how much easier does it get? Not much, and yet this is one of our favorite winter warmers. It is even Doctor Cocktail-approved, given that the good doctor himself gave us the formula and the impetus to try this delightful beverage over a year ago.
Since then I don’t think I could count how many Snowshoes we’ve made, nor how many empty bottles of peppermint schnapps in the recycling bin have caused our neighbors’ eyebrows to arch. If you’re feeling a chill this yuletide, or if perhaps the holiday cheer,cheer,cheer has worn you down, read on. A quick Snowshoe is a warm, cozy balm for your cold, weary self.
1½ oz bourbon
1½ oz peppermint schnapps (Rumpleminze)Add both spirits to a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Stir to combine, top off with more crushed ice to fill and garnish with a mint sprig sprinkled with bar or powdered sugar.
In principle this drink seems to be the illegitimate lovechild of a Stinger and a Mint Julep, but it manages to be neither while capturing some of the best qualities of each. The best way I can describe it is that it makes you feel like you should be lounging by the hearth of an Alpine ski lodge. I, like Herr Doctor, recommend Rumpleminze here because it is an excellent schnapps and it happens to be 100-proof, two qualities which make it a prime candidate for fireside tipples.
Normally I am pretty laissez-faire about the use of crushed ice—if I don’t feel like cranking some out of the crusher, I just use cubed. That will not work here, given the rather intense proof and the strong mint flavor. You want the smaller greater surface area of crushed ice to encourage melting, which will produce water to mellow the flavors together and soften the edges. Mix one up on Christmas Eve by the fire, or have one to warm your toes on New Year’s Day. Really, it’s hard to go wrong with a Snowshoe.