The DeKuyper Range Explained: Peachtree and Peppermint

DeKuyper is the brand behind most of the schnapps on an American back bar, and the two bottles people search for by name are Peachtree and Peppermint. They are both DeKuyper, both OU certified, and both 1 liter, but they are not really the same kind of drink.

Peachtree runs 15% alcohol. Peppermint runs 30%, which is 60 proof. That gap matters more than the two dollars does.

First, the name

John DeKuyper and Sons started in the Netherlands, and the Dutch company still makes its own line. The bottles on American shelves are a separate operation run by Beam Suntory, which is why you will see Cincinnati, Ohio on one label and Frankfort, Kentucky on another. Same name, American production, and the whole cordial line picked up OU certification in the 2008 Beam review.

If the word schnapps itself is the confusing part, our guide to peach schnapps covers where the category comes from and why American schnapps is sweet when German schnapps is not.

DeKuyper Peachtree: the mixer

This is the bottle that taught a generation what peach schnapps tastes like. It came out in the 1980s, the Fuzzy Navel came with it, and it has been on every back bar since.

Ripe yellow peach on the nose with a little peach skin and stone fruit pit behind it. The palate is sweet and juicy over a clean spirit base, with some syrupy weight to it. The finish is round, with peach candy and a gentle warmth.

At 15% alcohol it is barely stronger than wine, which is the point. It is built to carry fruit flavor into a drink without carrying much alcohol, so you can pour a real measure of it:

• Fuzzy Navel, two parts orange juice to one part Peachtree, over ice. That is the whole recipe.
• Peach Bellini, a splash in the bottom of the flute before the prosecco goes in.
• Peach margarita, swapped in for the triple sec.
• Sex on the Beach, with vodka, cranberry and orange.

DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps, 1 liter

DeKuyper Peppermint: the shot and the cordial

Crystal clear, 60 proof, and a completely different job. This is cool peppermint oil on the nose, clean and bright with no sting to it. Sweet mint across the palate, medium bodied, rounded out by cane sugar, and then a cold clean finish that leaves the classic post-mint chill.

Twice the alcohol of the Peachtree, so it works where you want the mint to stand up to something else:

• Into hot cocoa, a splash, and a plain mug becomes a Peppermint Patty. This is the one it earns its keep on all winter.
• A chilled shot, straight out of the freezer, which is the candy cane shot everyone means.
• A candy cane martini, with vodka and a little cream.
• Over dark chocolate ice cream, poured cold, as a dessert that takes ten seconds.

DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps, 1 liter

Side by side

	Peachtree	Peppermint
Alcohol	15%	30%, 60 proof
Color	Pale peach	Clear
Tastes like	Ripe yellow peach, syrupy	Cool peppermint, cane sugar
Best in	Long fruit drinks	Shots, cocoa, dessert
Hashgacha	OU	OU

Which one first

If you are stocking a bar from nothing, buy the Peachtree. It goes into more drinks, it is cheap, and a liter lasts because you only ever use an ounce of it at a time.

Buy the Peppermint if it is the cold half of the year, or if what you actually want is something to hand people after a meal. It is the more useful bottle in December and the less useful one in July.

Both sit with the rest of our kosher liqueur shelf. Free shipping on orders $150+ in the lower 48.