An Incredible Hulk, also known as Green Eyed Monster, Shrock, or Hip and Hen is an eye-catching green-colored cocktail typically made by mixing equal parts (2 fl oz each) of the fruit liqueur Hpnotiq and Hennessy brand cognac and served with ice. Because of its color, not surprisingly, it was named after the green comic book superhero, the Hulk.
Hpnotiq is blue, sweet and fruity, which naturally attracted far more female than male drinkers. A savvy bartender at one of New York City’s restaurants mixed Hpnotiq with Hennessy cognac to come up with a green colored drink, that had a less fruity and a more assertive taste. That drink had an instant success with male drinkers, who immediately stopped drinking whiskey, vodka, gin, cognac and rum, and switched to Incredible Hulk… just joking… no, they didn’t… but still, the new drink appealed to dudes enough for them to start drinking it.
While the pictures of the Incredible Hulk drink you’ll find on the Internet show a brightly colored green drink, this is not what you will get by mixing equal parts of Hpnotiq and Hennessy, as the traditional recipe for this drink instructs. Not even close! What a ripoff! Where the heck is the pretty color I was promised?
I tried making the Incredible Hulk different ways, shaking the two liqors with and without ice, stirring and just pouring the two gently one after another into a glass, thinking it was my crappy technique that was responsible for the color… nope, nada… really, dude?… the technique?
It’s just another example of ‘don’t believe everything you see on the Internet’. What you will get is this brownish color as shown below… with some green tint if you squint a little… maybe. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t look bad, but it’s clearly not the bright green color you’ll see on the Internet.
I was able to get close to that pretty bright green color by mixing 2 parts of Hpnotiq and one part of Hennessy, as shown in the first picture of this post. Add a little more of Hpnotiq and the green color becomes even brighter, but the drink gets more diluted and more fruity, and the color becomes less intense.
Incredible Hulk drink ingredients
For this cocktail you will need:
- Hpnotiq fruit liqueur
- Hennessy brand cognac
- Ice
Incredible Hulk drink tasting notes
As I mentioned above, the standard ratio for this drink is 1:1 (variation #1). But if you want the bright green color, the ratio becomes 1:2, or even higher, (variation #2) Hennessy to Hpnotiq. Both taste great and will appeal to different tastes.
Color
Variation #1 – looks like honey or malty beer, deep golden brown.
Variation #2 – bright green, which gets brighter and greener as you add more Hpnotiq.
Nose
Variation #1 – strong, complex aroma of Hennessy cognac, with faint fruity tones.
Variation #2 – much less of cognac and more of tropical fruit.
Strength
Variation #1 – medium strength, immediately feel alcohol burn in the mouth. Nice alcohol burn after swallowing.
Variation #2 – sweet and fruity initially, barely any alcohol taste. You get nice warmth from the alcohol in the back of you mouth and throat once you swallow it.
Sweetness
Variation #1 – sweet, like Bailey’s, but doesn’t feel as sweet due to alcohol content.
Variation #2 – sweetness is just a tad higher but is much more apparent due to lower alcohol content.
Both variations are great. I see the stronger variation (#1) appeal more to male drinkers. I see myself drinking it in a bar or just to unwind after a long day. Variation #2 is super easy to drink, fruity and sweet and sour, a perfect party drink. The color will be a major attraction here too.
Anthony R.
Love your drink sweetness chart. Never seen that before.
Marina
Oh this lovely green liquid is so good. I made this for a small party last weekend and it was a definite hit.
Dave King
I was wondering the same thing about the color. I’d always stick to 1:1 ratio and never got a green ‘Hulk’ color. It never occurred to me to increase the ratio of Hpnotiq. Now it makes sense. Thanks for the tip.
victor
No problem.