There are two very prominent schools of thought when it comes to the flavor of cocktails:

1) Make minimal modifications so that the natural flavors of the base spirit can shine through.

2) Use flavored spirits, sugars, and syrups so that the flavor of the base spirit is as covered up as possible.

By tone alone, you can probably guess where I fall on this distinction. The current craft cocktail resurgence is built primarily around the first approach: rediscovering great spirits and making minimal additions to accent them in subtle ways. This was the approach pre-Prohibition as well, when the quality of the spirits was higher and gentleman-bartenders roamed the land.

The Prohibition era and the years afterward are often falsely lifted up as some sort of secret cocktail golden age, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. During Prohibition, unless it was smuggled in from Canada, most of the alcohol available was not very high quality, so cocktails were about masking flavor. Most of the skilled bartenders left for other countries, so after the 21st Amendment, the bartenders left in the United States were the ones who had learned the craft by trying to mask the flavor or bathtub gin. Combine that with rationing that would occur in WWII, and it would be a while before a true cocktail resurgence could take shape. What we got in the meantime was a tiki bar movement (with an emphasis on fruit flavors built primarily around rum) coupled with an overwhelming boom in vodka, which could be mixed with seemingly infinite flavors because of its neutrality. In this world of flavored neutral spirits, another less popularized hero also entered the fray: schnapps.

Unlike the true German schnapps (which comes from a general term for liquor but usually refers to distilled fermented fruit juices), American schnapps is a neutral grain spirit that has been heavily flavored post-distillation. Popular varieties include peppermint, cinnamon, and all sorts of fruit. Schnapps is seldom the star player in a drink, but a splash of it here and there can create some very interesting flavor combinations.

I’m conflicted when it comes to schnapps. It’s a convenient shortcut to some great flavors, but the schnapps can sometimes be overpowering. Schnapps can work very well when used in moderation, but if a recipe calls for more than half an ounce, I usually scale back to make sure my cocktail has more subtle flavors. My preferred use for peppermint schnapps is in hot chocolate, but lately, I’ve been using peppermint schnapps and a few leaves from my mint plant as an alternative to creme de menthe (since the only bottle of creme de menthe I have right now tastes like a finely aged toothpaste). It’s a serviceable alternative that combines with a surprising number of base spirits, and it’s even found it’s way into the St. Paddy’s Day Sipper that I’ve been working on— more on that in March.

In the end, when it comes to schnapps and other flavored spirits, a lot of it depends on your personal taste. Because I enjoy the taste of whiskey and gin and other base spirits, I’m always going to seek to complement these flavors rather than cover them. You may have a different attitude, and that’s okay. The cocktail is just as much about hospitality as it is about artistry, so go with your own tastes and the tastes of your guests, and as always, have fun with it.