Ice Cream Turns Your Retro Grasshopper Cocktail Into A Decadent Dessert Drink

If you're a fan of boozy milkshakes, spiked hot chocolate, or any other alcohol-infused dessert drink, then you need to know about the retro grasshopper cocktail. The grasshopper, which originated in New Orleans in the early 1900s, consists of heavy cream, crème de cacao, crème de menthe, and fresh mint for the garnish. In other words, it's creamy, sweet, and delicious.

The cocktail is already saccharine enough to be considered a dessert-like drink, but if you have a major sweet tooth, then you may be wondering if there's a way to up the ante and make it into a fully fledged dessert. Well, luckily for you, there is. We like to make a frozen grasshopper by swapping in ice cream for the heavy cream, and then mixing it up in a blender. With the addition of ice cream, the grasshopper becomes its own boozy milkshake, perfect for adults who want their after-dinner nightcap and dessert to be rolled into one.

Now that you know the grasshopper can be turned into a boozy milkshake, it's time to decide what type of ice cream to use to upgrade the sweet cocktail. We often reach for mint chocolate chip, which will double the minty flavor of the drink. For mint lovers, this is a dream combination. If you're looking for a milder — but still sweet — flavor, there's always classic vanilla. Vanilla pairs with just about everything, mint included, and it will bring a new flavor into the mix. 

Vanilla's opposite, chocolate ice cream, also works nicely here — there's already some chocolatey flavor from the crème de cacao, so using chocolate ice cream will just enhance the chocolatey goodness of the dessert drink making it even more decadent. Or, maybe you want to take it a step further and combine two of these flavors — perhaps half mint chip, half vanilla or even half vanilla, half chocolate.You'll just have to make the blended grasshopper more than once to decide which ice cream is the best fit.