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 widely differing recipes that share the same name.
The premixed cocktail labeled Brass Monkey was produced by the Heublein Company in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Heublein pre-mixed bottled cocktails were 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. The Brass Monkey cocktail was available in bottles from half pint up to 750 mL. At the time that the Brass Monkey cocktail was produced, liquor stores carried mostly beer, wine, and hard alcohol; there were very few premixed alternatives.