The Booze, the Saint and the Shamrock: Classic and Classy St Patrick's Day Cocktails

The Booze, the Saint and the Shamrock: Classic and Classy St Patrick's Day Cocktails

Ireland has given the world many amazing things: the sweet, sweet barrel-aged barley nectar, of course, but also Irish folk music, Oscar Wilde and, of no less interest to the philologist, the Irish language.


In the Republic of Ireland, St Patrick's Day officially remains a public holiday dedicated to the pivotal, if the perhaps mythological role of the patron saint (there were never any actual snakes in Ireland).

Here are 5 cocktails to sláinte you into the mood for this year's festivities (and here is the website where you can buy all key ingredients).


1. Jameson Captain Levi

The core Jameson’s Whiskey Spirit comes from a single distillery in Cork, Ireland, but uses a unique mixture of triple-distilled grain and pot-still Spirits aged seven years in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks.

Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey takes the extra step of re-charring the Bourbon casks ("black barrel," get it?). This diminishes the Bourbon influence and adds a more natural, vanilla character.

This St Patrick's Day try it in Jameson Captain Levi cocktail!


Ingredients:

- 1.5 parts Jameson Black Barrel
- 0.5 parts Pernod Absinthe
- 1 part fresh apple juice
- 0.75 parts fresh lime juice
- 0.75 parts sugar syrup
- Apple slice & nutmeg to garnish

How to?

Combine 1.5 Parts of Jameson Black Barrel, 0.5 parts of Pernod Absinthe, 1 part fresh apple juice, 0.75 parts of fresh lime juice, and 0.75 parts sugar syrup into a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass with an apple slice and freshly grated nutmeg.

2. Irish Coffee

The logic is simple. Morning? Coffee. Morning of St Patrick's Day? Irish Coffee. Rest of St Patrick's Day? Possibly still Irish Coffee.

Add some spice and sweetness to your traditional Irish Coffee with Shanky’s Whip Liqueur. This two-ingredient recipe is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day and year-round.


Ingredients:

- 1 oz (30ml) Shanky’s Whip
- 4 oz (120 ml) hot coffee
- Garnish: whipped cream
- Glass: Mug


How to

Warm a coffee mug (or heatproof glass of choice) with hot water. Once warm, pour out the water and add the two ingredients. Stir, and top with whipped cream.

3. Emerald

The Emerald is merely an Irish Whiskey Manhattan. That might not be stunningly original, but it sure is pleasant. A pre-Prohibition staple at the old Waldorf-Astoria bar in New York, and very, very easy to drink.

Ingredients:

- 2 oz (60 ml) Bushmill’s Black Bush Irish Whiskey
- 1 oz (30 ml) Italian red vermouth
- 2 dashes of Orange bitters
- Garnish: 1 Lemon peel twist
- Glass: Cocktail


How to

Add all of the ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with cracked ice. Stir, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the lemon peel over the top and discard.

4. Shamrock Gin Sour

Have you had your greens yet? Ok, sure, you'll likely be swimming in green on St Patrick's Day, but you might want to squeeze in this classy, pungent botanical spinoff of the Sour nonetheless.


Ingredients:

- 2 oz Gin (preferably Irish, try for instance Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin)
- 1/2 oz Chartreuse Verte
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1 egg white

How to

Shake all ingredients with ice, strain, then shake again dry and strain into a chilled double rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint lea... Nah, say 'not today, mint, not today', and garnish with a seamróg.

5. Irish Tea

The supposedly soberer of the two Irish Caffeine brothers, this warming concoction is typically relied upon by the Irish to dispel a cold. If you don't mind a healthy dose of paradox, it can also be applied to hangovers - a kind of post-Patrick's elixir, if you will.

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 oz Irish Whiskey
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup hot Irish black tea

How to

Mix Whiskey and lemon juice in a mug, stir in honey to dissolve. Add hot tea and stir. Raise a toast to leipreachán-kind, then drink by the sip while still hot.

What's your favorite St Patrick's cocktail? Share with us in the comments below. And don't forget to browse our selection of best Irish Whiskeys under $100!

Cover image: Hyde Whiskey
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