| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Served | On the rocks; poured over ice |
| Standard drinkware | Highball glass |
| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Stir together and serve over ice. |
Brass Monkey is a name given to a number of different cocktail recipes. As with many lesser-known cocktails that are named after colloquial expressions, there are some wildly differing recipes that share the same name.
It can refer to a cocktail consisting of equal parts beer and orange juice, or to a mixture of gin, triple sec, tequila, orange juice, sour mix and grapefruit juice[1], or to a mixture of rum, vodka and orange juice (with or without Galliano).
An alternative version of the brass monkey is a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor that has been consumed to the top of the label and then filled with orange juice.
There was a premixed cocktail called "Brass Monkey" produced by the Heublein Company in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It was fairly inexpensive and provided a portable alternative to regular mixed drinks. Heublein was based in Stamford, Connecticut, and had production facilities in the Hartford, Connecticut area. Brass Monkey was available in bottles from half pint up to 750 mL. At the time that Brass Monkey was released, liquor stores carried mostly beer, wine, and hard alcohol; there were very few premixed alternatives. The drink was named by Steve Doniger, an advertising executive, after an alleged World War II spy, named H. E. Rasske. Sales and popularity of Heublein's "Brass Monkey" increased in the 1980s after the release of the Beastie Boys song with the same title as the beverage.[2]
In 1982, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company acquired Heublein Inc. for $1.4 billion dollars. RJR Nabisco sold the division to Grand Metropolitan in 1987. Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form Diageo in 1997.
After several years of absence from the market the Brass Monkey premixed cocktail has recently been re-released as The Club" Brass Monkey. Produced by The Club Distilling Company of Stamford Ct. Brass Monkey is currently sold in liquor stores along with other premixed alcoholic beverages under the name The Club Cocktails owned by Diageo.[3]
The drink was the inspiration to the popular old school hip-hop tune "Brass Monkey (song)", released by the Beastie Boys in 1987.