ice cream and sorbets drifted into the bartender’s arsenal from the soda fountain in the late nineteenth century with the Couperee (brandy, liqueur, and vanilla ice cream with soda water), first recorded in 1887. The addition of ice cream to a fancy drink was also a favorite gambit of William “The Only William” Schmidt, the most celebrated mixologist of the age. See Schmidt, William. The popularity of ice cream drinks has ebbed and flowed since, but such drinks have never quite disappeared. Ice cream, blended or used as scoops, may be used in place of milk, cream, or half-and-half in “frozen” versions of classic dessert drinks such as the Grasshopper, Brandy Alexander, and Golden Cadillac (all three particularly popular in the 1970s, when ice cream drinks were very much in style), while fruit sorbets may stand in for some or all of the ice in others. See Grasshopper and Alexander Cocktail. A scoop of ice cream or sorbet can also top an alcoholic beverage such as Guinness Stout, sparkling wine, or even a mixed cocktail.
See also TGI Friday’s.
Schmidt, William. The Flowing Bowl. New York: Charles L. Webster, 1892.
Thomas, Jerry. The Bar-Tender’s Guide. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1887.
By: Jason Horn