Combine gin, elderflower, lemon, mint leaves, and ice; shake vigorously and strain up into a cocktail glass. Garnish with mint sprig.
Adapted from restaurant Flora in Oakland, California
Are you a bartender that wants to find that one drink to add to your menu to make your local cocktail nerd swoon? Or maybe you're the jaded home mixer who's tried so many Manhattan variations you are sure they are running out of areas of New York? Behold: Beta Cocktails. Originally published in 2009 as Rogue Cocktails, the book is a collaboration between Maks Pasuniak and Kirk Estopinal, who met while tending bar in New Orleans. They combined a handful of their own recipes with some of their favorite boundary-pushing offerings from their colleagues and slapped the whole thing together as a self-published mini-book. Everything seemed great until Rogue Brewery came calling with a trademark infringement complaint, and Beta Cocktails was born.
Since Alpenz was the source of the drink in the first place, I've curated this to follow suit on the name change.
Now called the less colorful "Golden Grove" on Haus Alpenz's site.
William Schmidt has a similar combination of Cognac, crème de menthe, and gum syrup under a different name (The Judge). The Stinger itself was +/- 1910 with the earliest reference that I have being Jacques Straub 1914. I'll parse the Oxford Companion entry later.
Reminds me of a Ciociaro for Campari Eeyore's Requiem in Sour format on paper but comes across like a reverse Jasmine Cocktail in the glass. Not sure why this one didn't make the cut for his book.
Behave yourself, young Craig!