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Mint Warmer
One ounce creme de menthe syrup, 1 ounce sherry wine. Stir in a measure of ice cream and spoonful of whipped cream. Toss and serve in bell glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
A fountain drink rather than a mixed drink: two syrups, ice cream, whipped cream, served in a footed glass. The whole thing takes under a minute once the components are at hand.
- Creme de menthe syrupThe word "syrup" points to a non-alcoholic fountain syrup — sugar syrup flavoured with mint, usually coloured green — rather than the liqueur of the same name. A mint simple syrup works; if you substitute the liqueur, use considerably less and expect a much drier result.
- Sherry wineThe recipe says wine, and actual sherry gives the drink its nutty backbone; a medium or cream sherry suits the sweetness better than a fino. Sherry-flavoured fountain syrups and extracts also existed, so a non-alcoholic reading cannot be ruled out.
- "A measure of ice cream"Unspecified in the original; a single scoop is the sensible reading, and vanilla is the neutral choice. More than a scoop or so and the mint disappears entirely.
- "Toss"Most likely aerating by pouring the mixture back and forth between two vessels rather than shaking. It loosens the ice cream into the syrup without whipping the cream flat. A few passes only, or the drink turns to soup.
- Bell glassA flaring soda-fountain glass, of the sort used for ice-cream drinks. Any tall glass that holds the drink with room for the cream cap will do.
- NutmegGrate it fresh over the top at the moment of service. Pre-ground nutmeg sitting on cold cream reads as dust and tastes of nothing.
- The nameDespite "Warmer", nothing here is heated; the name may point to the sherry and nutmeg rather than to temperature. Serve it as cold as the ice cream allows.
- YieldOne glass. It does not hold; assemble to order.
American soda fountains of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries operated as a parallel bar trade, with their own vocabulary, their own glassware and a shelf of bottled syrups that imitated the flavours of the drinks trade — sherry, port, claret, brandy and creme de menthe all appeared as alcohol-free fountain syrups. Dispensers were trained to mix, garnish and name drinks with the same flourish as bartenders, and titles such as "Mint Warmer" belong to that showmanship rather than to any description of temperature. The grating of nutmeg over a capped, creamy drink is older still, carried into the fountain from the punch and eggnog tradition, where it is often said to have been the finishing touch on drinks containing wine or spirits.