Homemade Creme de Menthe + Drink Recipes

Making Creme de Menthe at home is easy and only takes a couple days to have a delicious, smooth liquor to add to any drink for a minty kick.

In the warmer months, our garden always has an overabundance of mint growing. We use it in drinks such as Strawberry Mojitos and in other recipes. Then we decided to take a shot at making some Creme de Menthe. (Get it, take a shot? Alcoholic drink? Shot glass?) We have made our own vanilla extract before, so I figured it couldn’t be too hard to make some creme de menthe in a similar fashion.

Justin’s brother enjoys drinks using Creme de Menthe, so we made the first batch for him for his birthday one year. It was so good and smooth. We decided we needed to make some for ourselves as well. The fresher the mint leaves, the more flavor your liquor will have. As I said, these leaves came straight from the garden, so they were about as fresh as could be!

When making an extract, or a creme de anything, it works best to use some very cheap vodka. Our local liquor store sells some vodka for less than $5 for a bottle of 375ml which is a perfect amount for something like this. And at that price, it makes this creme de menthe so much cheaper than buying it already made. At our local store, the small bottles are behind the counter, not out on the floor. I’m not sure why, but that’s where I found it.

Start with a container large enough to hold the vodka and mint leaves. We used a 16oz mason jar to start with, but once we completed all of the steps, this wasn’t enough. A 24oz mason jar would work the whole way through.

Creme de Menthe Step by Step

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups mint leaves
• 375 ml cheap vodka
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Preparation

Tear up the mint leaves to help release the juice.

Pour the vodka into your container, and add the mint. Let the mint leaves sit for about 12 hours (or longer). We started ours late one evening and finished the following afternoon so it sat for about 16 hours. 12 hours is the minimum to infuse the mint flavor.

Strain the mint leaves out. To do this, we used some cheesecloth and the ring for another mason jar to pour the vodka into while straining.

Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add the simple syrup to the strained vodka.

Tear up the rest of the mint leaves and add those to the mixture. Let it steep again for another 10-12 hours.

Strain it out a second time. Sometimes, depending on how well it strains, you may have to do it a third time to make sure all the mint leaves are out. At this point, you have your own creme de menthe. If you want your creme de menthe to have the traditional green flavor, add a tiny amount of green food coloring to the liquid.

Store the liquor in a resealable container and it will keep for a few months. This recipe makes a very smooth version of creme de menthe and is a great addition to so many drinks! You could also use it as a gift for family, friends, or neighbors for the holidays.

Creme de Menthe Recipe

Creme de Menthe

Making Creme de Menthe at home is easy and only takes a couple days to have a delicious, smooth liquor to add to any drink for a minty kick.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Steeping Time 1 day day

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Course:

Drinks

Cuisine:

American

|

Irish

Keyword:

alcoholic

|

mint

|

vodka

Servings: 24 oz

5 from 7 votes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups mint leaves
• 375 ml cheap vodka
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Recommended Equipment

• Mason Jars – 16oz
• Mesh Strainer
• Saucepan – Medium

Instructions

• Tear up 1 cup of the mint leaves and place them in a jar
• Pour the vodka over the top of the mint leaves and let steep for about 12 hours uncovered
• Strain the mint leaves from the vodka
• Boil the water and sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved, stirring constantly, letting it simmer for about 5 minutes to make simple syrup
• Add the simple syrup to the vodka and the rest of the mint leaves
• Let the mixture steep for another 10-12 hours uncovered to let the heat escape
• Strain the mint leaves out, making sure to remove all of them
• Add a few drops of green food coloring if desired
• Store the Creme de Menthe in a resealable container

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Nutrition Facts

Creme de Menthe

Amount Per Serving (1 oz)

Calories 86 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 2mg0%

Potassium 16mg0%

Carbohydrates 13g4%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 12g13%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 119IU2%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 7mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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Drinks using Creme de Menthe

And now for the good part: the drinks! We tried a few different drinks using our homemade creme de menthe that I found online. We made two shooters, and two cocktails. I am usually not much of a shot person, so I sipped at mine and it was still good. The frozen cocktail was more my type of drink.

Shots

Thin Mint Cookie:

• 1/2 oz Kahlua
• 1/2 oz Irish Cream
• 3/4 oz Creme de Cacao
• 1/4oz Creme de Menthe

Layer in a shot glass

Shamrock Shooter

1/3 oz each of:

• Creme de Menthe
• Creme de Cacao
• Irish Cream

Layer in a shot glass

Cocktails

Leprechaun’s Lunch

1 oz each of:

• Irish Cream
• Creme de Menthe
• Creme de Cacao

Top it off with milk and stir

Justin drank this one and said it was good and tasted like a lighter version of Irish Cream with a hint of minty flavor. He said next time, he would probably increase the Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cacao to 1 1/2 oz or 2oz each since he mostly tasted the Irish Cream.

Frozen Andes Mint

• 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 1 oz Creme de Menthe
• 1 oz Kahlua
• 3 oz milk
• 1 oz Creme de Cacao
• 1 oz Irish Cream

Blend together and garnish with a sprig of mint

My favorite drink of them all: Frozen Andes Mint! Maybe it’s just because this one is made with ice cream that I loved it so much. But then again, I do always prefer my frozen-fruity-girly drinks the most. This isn’t fruity, but it is frozen and girly. This one is made with a blender, but since we were doing a single serving we made it in the Magic Bullet and it was the perfect size for it.