Pink Squirrel

Not many people order a Pink Squirrel at today’s bars, but it’s one of those rare mixed drinks that seems to have survived as a bit of beloved popular culture nonetheless. Unapologetically dessert-y and distinctly mid-proof, it didn’t fit the zeitgeist of the 21st century’s cocktail revival, but the drink hung on as the sort of cocktail mentioned in sitcoms, mostly as a colorfully named signifier of the old-school.

The creamy cocktail feels pretty ’70s (and this version is adapted from Stan Jones’s wonderful Complete Barguide of that decade) but dates back to the 1940s. Allegedly born in Milwaukee as the brainchild of bartender Bryant Sharp, the Pink Squirrel can still be ordered at the surviving Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge alongside Grasshoppers and Alexanders. It seems to share most of the DNA of the latter (although Bryant’s version has always used vanilla ice cream instead of the heavy cream common to most versions known today), but instead of a spirit base of 80 proof (or more), the drink features crème de noyaux, the once-esoteric liqueur that tastes like almonds but is made of stone fruit kernels. Today it can be found widely again thanks to producers like Tempus Fugit, who produce a historically minded version one can use to mix up classics like the Epicurious staff favorite, the King Kong.

One might be tempted to booze up the Pink Squirrel a bit, the way other classic mid-ABV cocktails have been treated during the revival. Certainly, a half ounce of good brandy wouldn’t rub me the wrong way in this drink (go ahead and throw it in the shaker if that’s your scene), but it does move the Pink Squirrel away from its core personality as a sweet, elegant session sipper that you can knock back repeatedly while indulging your sweet tooth unrepentantly.