Name: Minnie the Moocher
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 37.5 ml Gin; 30 ml Dry vermouth; 22.5 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.; 1 dash Absinthe; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Minnie the Moocher
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₄ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
³⁄₄ oz	Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
1 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
No garnish to prepare but be ready to serve with the verbal chant.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Serve with verbal garnish, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Ho".

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Spirit-forward and just on the rich side, this late-night sipper delivers satisfying botanical complexity.

Before serving to others, practice this cocktail's all-important verbal garnish, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Ho"

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Variant:

Caprice
Chrysanthemum
Ford Cocktail
Merry Widow(er)
Poet's Dream
Poet's Martini
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth Wine
Rolls Royce
Tip Top
Vancouver

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Charlie Conolly's The World Famous Cotton Club: 1939 Book of Mixed Drinks.

Minnie the Moocher
1 ounce Dry Gin
1 ounce Dry Vermouth
1 ounce Benedictine
2 or 3 drops of Absinthe
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake all ingredients with cracked ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Charlie Conolly, 1939

This Jazz Age cocktail takes its name from the Minnie the Moocher jazz song, first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. This became their signature song with Calloway earning the nickname "The Hi De Hi De Hi Man" due to his call-and-response scat with audiences when performing this song at the Cotton Club and other famous jazz nightclubs. (Remember, this cocktail comes from The World Famous Cotton Club 1939 book.)

Folks, here's a story about Minnie the Moocher
She was a lowdown hoochie coocher
She was the roughest, toughest frail
But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale

Hidee hidee hidee hi
Hode hode hode ho
Hee dee hee dee hee dee hee
A hidee hidee hidee ho

She messed around with a bloke named Smoky
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to Chinatown
And he showed her how to kick the gong around
Minnie the Moocher lyrics, 1939

Drug references litter the song's lyrics:
"hoochie coochie" = a style of belly dancing considered lecherous at the time.
"Smokey" "was cokey" = a user of cocaine.
"kick the gong around" = slang for smoking opium.

Incidentally, the "hi-de-ho" scat lyrics that made the song so famous resulted from Calloway forgetting the lyrics while performing the song during a live radio concert. Calloway would start with "He De Hi De Hi De Hi," which the audience could easily sing back, but he'd end with more challenging scats such as "Skeedle-a-booka-diki biki skeedly beeka gookity woop!"

Nutrition:

One serving of Minnie the Moocher contains 193 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
26.24% alc./vol. (26.24° proof)
23.8 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 16 comments for Minnie the Moocher.
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Graeme McPherson

22nd May at 10:17

Approached this one with a touch of trepidation as the ingredients suggested this could head vaguely into Martini territory and I’m just not a Martini guy. However the Benedictine and absinthe help steer this back into my wheelhouse. Served with the requisite Hi de hi de ho, although I did use the Family Guy / Peter Griffin version…..

mregisterfl

19th January at 03:41

There is a distinct alchemy that takes place when Benedictine and absinthe merge in a cocktail and that magic happens here. Outstanding.

Tuber Magnatum

18th January at 00:04

Another excellent drink. The descriptor of this as "spirit-forward and just on the rich side" is very apt. As I generally have a glass of port as my after dinner drink I, as is my custom, I drank this as my pre-dinner cocktail tonight and very much enjoyed it. While indeed rich, it worked well for me. My only suggestion for consideration as a fan of Absinthe, is that I increased the Absinthe which for me worked nicely.

Tuna Cubed

29th November 2024 at 02:46

Quite tasty.

I wish I'd seen the measurements in the Review section as the ones 'as written' are a touch fiddly.

The thing does sing

John CARR

1st November 2024 at 13:57

Delicate and beautifully balanced. Delicious!

John Champion

2nd October 2023 at 17:09

I make a variation of this drink for my Halloween menu appropriately named "the Ghost of Smokey Joe." Same measurements but swap the gin for Rye and add a layer of Islay scotch over the top for a little smoke.

James Lerner

19th January at 02:01

Your modifications are genius. Made tonight with Michter’s Rye and Ardneg 10. Surely going into the winter rotation.

Simon Difford

2nd October 2023 at 18:54

That's a brilliantly appropriate riff. Many thanks for sharing, John.

Florian Ruf

24th July 2023 at 19:01

Very interesting cocktail, but I would stay with the original relations between gin, vermouth and Benedictine, especially when using Noilly Prat. It clearly got better when I put an ice cube in my Nick & Nora, so some more dilution might be good.

Florian Ruf

24th July 2023 at 19:04

BTE the colour of my drink is more yellowish-golden although I used the recipies ingredients.

1 reply

Leon Camfield

1st January 2023 at 21:45

Dear god that is delicious! Any chance of a recipe that delivers a higher wash line? This isn’t enough, but doubling the quantities is too much.

Simon Difford

3rd January 2023 at 15:41

Hi Leaon. It's a recipe that scales that easily but I've added a 1.5 times serve in the review above. Hope this fits the bill.

Andrew Gelb

11th March 2022 at 19:35

Hi Simon! The Cotton Club was in the Harlem section of upper Manhattan, in NYC. In any event, it's going on the "to be tried" list!

Simon Difford

12th March 2022 at 15:59

Thanks Andrew. I've removed Chicago reference.

John Hinojos

4th March 2022 at 04:41

I have no idea where to start to discuss this cocktail. It hits all my favourite flavour notes. Wonderfully herbal with just the right amount of sweetness to be perfect after dinner or in the evening. Did serve with the proper garnish!. Outstanding.

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