Snow Ball Cocktail
Every Thanksgiving the boys, Hubs and I head up to Northern California to spend the holiday with my family. Since the boys have a week off for vacation, we always take the week to hang out in Marin. But this year, Hubs and I took a night and spent a blissful 24 hours in San Francisco, wining and dining, just the two of us. We stayed at the Mark Hopkins, one of the older hotels in the city.
Opening its doors in 1926, the Mark Hopkins was top notch from the getgo. But being great wasn’t enough for the owners of the hotel. They wanted something more. So once Prohibition ended, they opened their own beautiful bar and restaurant called, fittingly, the Top of the Mark. With its 360° views, the bar became the spot for WWII servicemen, dignitaries and celebrities, and it had the food and cocktails to go with it. That much history meant Hubs and I just had to take a trip to the 19th floor to enjoy a drink or two.
The menu has changed a lot since the bar’s heyday, but luckily there are several display cases filled with photos and newspaper clippings about what the bar used to be like. There also happened to be an old menu of their special cocktails. Sure, they made things like Manhattans and Martinis, but there were also drinks called a Lady Hopkins and a Cable Car, both of which will appear on this blog in the future. Not only did the menu list several drinks, it also listed prices. I was in awe. The most expensive cocktail on the menu was their Pink Champagne Cocktail that tapped out at a whopping one dollar. Yup, a buck. For champagne! But that drink will come later.
The drink I found most fitting for this time of year was the Snow Ball. Made with Creme de Cocao, Creme de Menthe and cream, it literally looks like a snowball in a glass. One of the more expensive (90 cents) it sounded like a delicious dessert, something you might enjoy with a simple piece of chocolate. Not so coincidentally chocolate pairs well with this drink thanks to the creme de cocao which makes up half of it. I say half because that’s how I mixed it up. See, while the menu listed several drinks, it didn’t include the recipe. So, I created my own.
It’s pretty tasty. But like I said you don’t need a slice of cake or pie for your final course. The Snow Ball and maybe a small piece of chocolate are all you need to help you get through these cold winter nights.
Snow Ball Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 oz. Creme de Cocao
- 1/2 oz. white Creme de Menthe
- 2 oz. cream
Directions:
- Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously for a few seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.
