Mad Men Mondays: The Stinger and The Gibson

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I'm all but obsessed with the AMC show Mad Men. Last night, I heard two different cocktails mentioned on the show and I had to find out a little more about them: the Stinger and the Gibson.This has inspired me to launch a new recurring series: Mad Men Mondays. If they mention a cocktail on the Sunday night show, I'll hunt it down and give you the recipe on Monday. So, on to the cocktails …

Where did I go for the recipes? A pocket-sized 1946 book that belonged to my grandpa, called The Bartender's Friend.

The Stinger
1/3 oz white creme de menthe
1/3 oz brandy

Shake with ice and strain into 3 oz cocktail glass.

The Gibson
1/2 oz dry gin
1/2 oz Seagram's
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

Shake with ice. Strain into 3 oz cocktail glass.

Last night, the character Roger ordered a Gibson "up." I often order a Manhattan "up" as well, although I might say straight up instead. Here's a quick cocktail terminology glossary:

Neat: no ice, not mixed
Rocks (on the rocks): Poured over ice
Shaken: Shaken over ice and mixed, as required in both the Stinger and Gibson, and preferred by James Bond.
Stirred: The ingredients are, well, stirred instead of shaken.
Up / Straight Up: Mixed but not poured over ice

Photo Credit: Photo from AMC, by Carin Baer

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Posted by Michelle at 10:25 am in Cocktails, Entertainment, Mad Men Monday, Pop Culture, Television | Permalink | Comments (4)

4 Responses to “Mad Men Mondays: The Stinger and The Gibson”

Chad says:

August 24, 2009 at 10:30 am

Never make the mistake of ordering a Stinger at a poor cocktail establishment, you’ll get green Creme De Menthe instead of the white… it tastes the same, but makes the drink look ghastly.
Also, a Gibson, AFAIK is typically served with cocktail onions instead of olives as a garnish.
Robert Simonson says:

September 2, 2009 at 11:04 pm

If you’re interested in the cocktails on Mad Men, you might like reading this: http://offthepresses.blogspot.com/search?q=mad+men
Le Glen says:

December 20, 2009 at 5:15 pm

Nice post – exactly what I was looking for while watching that exact episode! Thx!
Greg Murphy says:

February 13, 2010 at 12:49 pm

The Stinger is referenced clearly in the 1960 Billy Wilder movie “The Apartment” (on which the Mad Men series heavily draws).

Look for the scene – pre-Christmas – in which the character, Joe Dobisch, takes the “Marilyn Monroe lookalike” back to Bud’s apartment for a late night liaison.

The only drinks they could get to take back to the love nest were from the bar in which they were in, which necessitated having to carry two handfuls of cocktail bowl glasses into the back of the yellowcab.

“Heeyyyyy, watch those Stingers!”