St. Patrick's Day Cocktails

The simplest solution is to drink the old Irish standards, beer and whiskey. Guinness, Harp, Murphy's Stout, Kilkenny and Smithwick's are all popular brands of Irish beer. Jameson is the traditional whiskey for the Republic of Ireland; Bushmill’s is distilled and drunk in Northern Ireland. Try serving the whiskey neat, on the rocks or mixed with ginger ale.

Mix ale and stout for a Black and Tan. Pour the chilled ale in first – fill the glass slightly less than half full. Then float the stout, like Guinness, on top of the ale. Place a spoon over the glass, convex side up, and pour the stout slowly over it to create another layer. Or try the Car Bomb, the Irish version of the Boilermaker. Drop a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream into a pint glass filled two-thirds of the way with Guinness. It’ll begin to froth and fizz, which is your signal to drink it all in one go.

For a more sophisticated drink, try the Black Velvet. Combine half a glass of Guinness stout with half a glass of chilled champagne. Serve it in a fluted glass. Or abandon Irish flavors for Irish colors and serve green cocktails, like a grasshopper (made with crème de menthe), a Midori sour or an Appletini. Even the monitor, with its crushed mint leaves, would be appropriately green. For a decadent fun experiment, try making a stout float. Use Guinness or your other favorite Irish stout and pour into a glass. Add a scoop or vanilla ice cream and serve with a straw and spoon.

To top off all these drinks, raise your glass and recite this toast:

Saint Patrick was a gentleman,

Who through strategy and stealth,

Drove all the snakes from Ireland,

Here’s a toasting to his health.

But not too many toastings

Lest you lose yourself and then

Forget the good Saint Patrick

And see all those snakes again.

'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'

Happy St. Patrick's Day!