“Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!” – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

One year ago on Saint Patrick’s Day, I decided to stray from the usual and instead of focusing on Irish-themed drinks or the lauded ‘green beer’, I posted green cocktails (http://www.mixmentor.net/?p=10). That was most certainly a fun job (oh, how I love my job sometimes) but this year I wanted to do something a bit different to celebrate St. Paddy. Years ago when I was a considerably younger lassie, I was lucky enough to spend a week traveling across Ireland with my best friend and her family. On that trip, we did the requisite visit to the Guinness Storehouse® in Dublin (the beer that eats like a meal) but also snuck in a trip to the Bushmills™ Distillery. Woohoo! Several years after that I was back in Dublin for work, made another trip to ‘sample’ Guinness (I had to make sure it hadn’t changed) but didn’t have time to make it back to the Bushmills™ Distillery. I did however, when I was off the clock of course :), drink my share of Powers® Gold Label Irish Whiskey. Since then, my taste for Irish whiskey has blossomed, and to the chagrin of my single malt scotch-drinking brother, it continues to be my tipple of choice. So, when faced with the task of coming up with a St. Patrick’s Day newsletter, I had no choice but to see what I could find in the way of Irish whiskey cocktails. Will any of them top two ounces of Bushmills™ or Jameson® with a splash of water and an ice cube? Nuh-uh, but they are a welcome change of pace.

Shamrock

1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey

1/2 oz coffee liqueur

1/2 oz Irish cream liqueur

Add ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and pour into a cocktail glass.

Comments: Not much to say, as this is a good looking drink that tastes excellent. ‘Nuff said.

Tasting Notes: quite potent (not for the faint of heart, alcohol-wise); super-smooth; goes down very easily (coats back of the throat); chocolate-forward, alcohol-back

Mayan O’Brien

1/2 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz coffee liqueur
6 – 8 oz hot coffee
1 tsp chocolate shavings
1/2 – 1 oz whipped cream

In a coffee mug, add whiskey and coffee liqueur to the coffee. Float the whipped cream on top and sprinkle with the chocolate shavings.

Comments: I am a huge fan of an Irish Coffee, as I really feel everyone should be! This drink however, is a nice change on the traditional as it isn’t quite as ‘meal-like’ as there is no Irish cream liqueur. Because of this, it can pretty much be served any time and not just as a post-dinner drink and/or a substitute for dessert. As a matter of fact, we enjoyed it at 1PM :).

Tasting Notes: coffee liqueur adds a nice chocolaty/coffee flavour, something missing from a traditional Irish Coffee; perfect balance of alcohol/sweet; “could start my day with this!”

Irish Martini

2 oz vodka

1/2 oz dry vermouth

1/2 oz Irish whiskey

Pour the Irish whiskey into a chilled cocktail glass and swirl to coat the inside. Add the leftover Irish whiskey, the vodka and dry vermouth into a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist if desired.

Comments: When I first made this cocktail, I made it as was originally suggested which had the user swirling to coat the glass with the Irish whiskey and then pouring it out (seriously??? discard Irish whiskey???). What I found with the final concoction is that there was far too slight an impact from the Irish whiskey, so I tried again, this time adding the excess Irish whiskey to the cocktail (as in the modified recipe above). Much, much better.

Tasting Notes: not much to say, this is just a nice change from a vodka martini