Stinger

Cognac and crème de menthe — the menthol activating TRPM8 cold receptors against the spirit's warmth, a late Victorian American resort and supper club fixture.

The Stinger is one of the most specifically American after-dinner cocktails — a two-ingredient combination of cognac and white crème de menthe that was fashionable in wealthy American social circles from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. The drink's association with old-money American leisure — the resorts of Newport and Palm Beach, the dining cars of transcontinental railroads, the supper clubs of Manhattan — was documented extensively in American fiction and journalism of the era. The earliest recipe attributions place it in American hotel and club bars in the late Victorian period, and it appeared in numerous cocktail guides from the early 20th century onward. White crème de menthe — a clear, colorless peppermint liqueur produced commercially by European producers including Bols and DeKuyper — provides a clean, intense mint character that interacts with cognac's warm stone-fruit in a surprisingly refreshing way: the menthol activates the TRPM8 cold receptor, creating a perceived cooling sensation that contrasts with the spirit's warmth. The combination is genuinely pleasant despite its simplicity, the two components finding a balance between rich and refreshing that made it a natural post-dinner drink. The Stinger's popularity waned after the mid-20th century as cocktail fashion shifted away from the supper club aesthetic and toward lighter, more acid-forward drinks, but it has been recovered by the craft cocktail movement as a lean, efficient, two-ingredient digestif.