Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some delicious cocktails

Emerald Cocktail

Your St. Patrick’s Day celebration doesn’t have to be an orgy of drinking and partying as it is in Chicago.  Salt Lake City’s Irish population (and those who wish they were part of it) will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a parade Saturday and a dinner or a party Saturday or Sunday evening (or both!).

My first recommendation was developed by the Utah Mixologist just this month in anticipation of the Day.  The Chocolate Corann blends the flavors of Irish Whiskey and chocolate into something you’re sure to enjoy.  It’s a fun twist on the Manhattan.  If you’re looking for something a little more traditional (and dryer), why not try an Emerald.  It’s more like a traditional Manhattan, but made with Irish Whiskey: Whiskey, Vermouth, and Bitters is all you need.  Make it (and drink it) pretty much the same way. 

Green drinks are something of a fad on SPD, so here are some food-coloring-free green cocktail recipes that you and your friends will enjoy.  The Irish Lady is a great champagne cocktail for St. Paddy’s Day.  When served in a flute, this cocktail will remind you of a slender, red-headed colleen dressed in a pale green gown.  Exquisite.  Another champagne cocktail, the Shamrock Champagne, is best when served in a champagne flute. You will enjoy the transparent green appearance of this simple mix of Midori® melon liqueur and champagne.

My first original St. Patrick’s Day cocktail was the O'jito, a Gaelicized descendant of the Mojito.  It requires mint, which has the added advantage of being green, to acknowledge its Mojito ancestry.    You should enjoy this concoction of mint, Baileys® Irish Cream, and Amaretto.  If Irish Cream is your favorite St. Paddy’s Day beverage, you should try an Amaretto Irish Cream. 

Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

Chocolate Corann Cocktail will enchant you

Chocolate Corann

One great takeaway from my recent interview with Jameson Irish Whiskey brand ambassador Sibéal Bird was an idea for a tasty cocktail.  When Sibéal told me about some of the cocktails she had recently enjoyed that were made with Jameson (an Old Fashioned made with Jameson 12 and chocolate bitters  and a Manhattan made with Jameson Gold with caramel), lightning struck: how about a Manhattan made with Jameson and chocolate bitters?  I just happened to have a bottle of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters in the bar that was stored less than 18 inches from a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey, so it seemed like a marriage made in heaven (or, at least, Ireland).   The Bitters come complete with an eyedropper, so a little (fun) experimentation resulted in just the right blend of flavors.  The resulting cocktail was very tasty indeed.  So don’t be afraid to experiment if you have different types of vermouth or chocolate bitters on hand to discover which combination works best for you.

The final step in developing a new cocktail is to name it (unless you started with a name and worked your way to the cocktail), so after a little research on Midleton, home of the Jameson distillery, I decided on the Chocolate Corann.  Corann is Irish for Weir, and is part of the Irish name for Midleton: Mainistir na Corann (“Monastery at the Weir”); just think of the smell of a river of chocolate as you take your first sip.  So here, just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day, is a recipe for a new Irish Whiskey cocktail.

Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

Chocolate Corann

• 1 ½  ounces Jameson Irish Whiskey
• ¾ ounce Quady Vya sweet Vermouth
• 10 drops Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Fill a mixing glass 2/3 full with ice, and add the liquid ingredients.  Stir briskly with ice and strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some delicious cocktails

Your St. Patrick’s Day (SPD) celebration doesn’t have to be an orgy of drinking and partying (as much fun as that can be).  Salt Lake City’s Irish population (and those who wish they were) will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a parade today and a dinner or a party tonight.  Green drinks are something of a fad on SPD, so here are some food-coloring-free green cocktail recipes that you and your friends will enjoy. 

The Irish Lady is a great champagne cocktail for St. Paddy’s Day.  When served in a flute, this cocktail will remind you of a slender, red-headed colleen dressed in a pale green gown.  Exquisite.  Another champagne cocktail, the Shamrock Champagne, is best when served in a champagne flute. You will enjoy the transparent green appearance of this simple mix of Midori® melon liqueur and champagne.

If you really want a green beer cocktail, try an Irish Moon.  It gets its name from the Blue Moon ale; just think of the moon rising over County Tipperary, where the Mixologist’s Irish ancestors came from. 

My first original St. Patrick’s Day cocktail was the O'jito, a Gaelicized descendant of the Mojito.  It requires mint, which has the added advantage of being green, to acknowledge its Mojito ancestry.    You should enjoy this concoction of mint, Baileys® Irish Cream, and Amaretto.  If Irish Cream is your favorite St. Paddy’s Day beverage, you should try an Amaretto Irish Cream. 

If you’re looking for something a little more traditional (and dryer), why not try an Emerald.  Think of it as a Manhattan made with Irish Whiskey: Whiskey, Vermouth, and Bitters is all you need.  Make it (and drink it) pretty much the same way.  If you would like to check out these cocktails, here’s an Examiner slideshow. 

Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

Try an Amaretto Irish Cream to cap your St. Patrick’s Day celebration

Yes, it’s time for St. Patrick’s Day and the Salt Lake City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  This year the parade, sponsored by the Hibernian Society of Utah, kicks off Saturday at 10:00 AM at 200 North and 400 West and ends up at The Gateway shopping center about 45 minutes later.  Let’s hope the weather cooperates.  That’s a mite early for the type of liquid celebration that Utah cocktailians enjoy, but eventually cocktail hour and the time for an evening of celebrations will arrive.

Those in the know will avoid green beer for other libations this St. Patrick’s Day.  These posts contain a lot of great ideas for St. Paddy’s Day cocktails, but there’s always room for one more.  This year the Utah Mixologist recommends a cocktail that is simple, but delicious.  The ingredients, Amaretto Irish Cream, are revealed in the name, and (as you may have guessed) it is a little sweet, so if you prefer your cocktails more on the dry side, try making an Emerald.  Amaretto, although it gets its flavor from apricot pits, seems to taste like almonds, so it goes well with the hints of chocolate in the Irish Cream.

Amaretto Irish Cream

• 1 ½ oz Irish Cream
• 1 ½ oz Amaretto

Pre-chill an Old Fashioned glass.  Pour ingredients into a shaker 2/3 full of ice.  Shake well, fill the glass about ¾ full of ice and strain the shaker into the glass.  Serve with an Irish toast: Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

The Irish are upon us! Are you ready with St. Patrick’s Day cocktail recipes?

It’s that time of year again.  Salt Lake City’s Irish population (and those who wish they were) are preparing to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (SPD).   St. Paddy’s Day doesn’t have to be an orgy of drinking and partying (as much fun as that can be).  Many in Utah celebrate it quietly at home with cocktails.  The Utah Mixologist used to live in Chicago, home of the great Irishman and President of the US, Barack O’bama.  SPD is a big deal in Chicago.  In Chicago they dye their river and their beer green on SPD. 

Green drinks seem to have become something of a fad on SPD, and we have some food-coloring-free green cocktail recipes for the enjoyment of any of your friends that require them.  Others are more interested in serious drinking, and they must be kept happy, too.   That reminds me of my favorite Saint Paddy’s Day joke:  “Two Irishmen walked out of a bar… Well, don’t laugh, it could happen!”  So view the slideshow on Examiner.com for a handful of great ideas, then click through below for articles on each of the cocktails.

Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

Irish Lady

Shamrock Champagne

Irish Moon

Emerald

O'jito

St. Paddy’s Day Cocktails, Part II

What would St. Patrick’s Day (SPD) be without some green cocktails?  It would still be fun, but for some people the wearing of the green isn’t enough; they can’t celebrate SPD without drinking the green, too.  So here is a selection of cocktails for those hardcore drinkers of the green…

First, after all those years of living in Chicago, I thought of green beer.  Just adding green food coloring to beer seemed to lack originality.  Some of the run of the mill green cocktail ingredients like Crème de Menthe and Midori® didn’t appeal to me when I thought about combining them with beer, although Midori has possibilities.  Then I remembered that mixing yellow and blue make green, and I had a bottle of Blue Curacao in the bar.  Blue Curacao tastes of bitter orange, so I needed a beer that would go well with the orange flavor but not be overpowered by the bitter.  Blue Moon (I know –  it’s a Belgian ale) came to mind, since it is already flavored with orange and coriander and usually served with an orange wheel to enhance those flavors.  (Note: Do Not serve this drink with an orange wheel on SPD.)  The Blue Moon also gave me the name: Irish Moon.  Think of the moon rising over County Tipperary, where my Irish ancestors came from.  If you must have green beer on SPD, this is the way to go.  Be cautious, though.  Blue Curacao is bitter, use just enough to get some green color without turning your beer bitter.  Taste and experiment. 

Next I thought I would throw in some champagne cocktails.  I know, I know, champagne isn’t Irish either, but it is appropriate for any celebration, and you should always have a bottle or two in the fridge for emergencies or celebrations, whichever comes up first.  One advantage of champagne cocktails is that if you’re on a budget, you don’t need to be using your best champagne.  Actually, I would encourage you to drink your good champagne au naturel and to buy less expensive brands for use in cocktails.  The first champagne cocktail, the Shamrock Champagne, is just a simple mix of Midori® melon liqueur and champagne.  You and your guests should enjoy the elegant, transparent green appearance of this cocktail when served in a champagne flute.  I found the final champagne cocktail, Irish Lady, at Drinks Mixer™ and have changed the preparation a little to keep the champagne colder, but that’s about it.  When served in a flute, this cocktail will remind you of a slender, red-headed colleen dressed in a pale green gown.  Exquisite.

Beannachtai ná Fhéile Pádraig!

 

Irish Moon

¼ - ½ oz Blue Curacao

1 bottle Blue Moon® beer

Pour Blue Curacao into a chilled pilsner glass.  Fill slowly with Blue Moon and serve.

 

Shamrock Champagne

½ oz Midori® melon liqueur

5 oz Champagne

Pour Midori into a chilled champagne flute.  Fill flute with champagne and serve.

 

Irish Lady

1 oz Midori® melon liqueur

1 oz orange juice

3 oz Champagne

Pour Midori and orange juice into a shaker half full of ice.  Shake well and strain into a chilled champagne flute.  Fill flute with champagne and serve.

 

St. Paddy’s Day Cocktails, Part I

It’s that time of year again.  St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, and sure, and it’s time to get ready for an orgy of drinking and partying on St. Paddy’s Day (SPD).  For a mixologist, this is about the most serious moment since Father O’Malley wiped the make-up off that little girl’s face (God bless her) in The Bells of St. Mary’s in Brooklyn all those years ago.  Personally, I’ve done so much drinking in preparation that I will probably abstain when the great day finally arrives.  (Well, don’t bet on it.)

I used to live in Chicago, home of the great Irishman and President of the US, Barack O’bama.  Some might say that SPD is a big deal in Chicago, what with Richard Daley being mayor and all.  Others might say that that’s an understatement.  I agree wholeheartedly with both.  In Chicago on SPD, they not only dye the river green, they dye the beer green, too.  Green drinks seem to have become something of a fad on SPD, and I will provide some green cocktail recipes for the enjoyment of any of your friends that require them in Part II.  Others are more interested in serious drinking, and I will endeavor to keep them happy too.   That reminds me of my favorite Saint Paddy’s Day joke:  Two Irishmen walked out of a bar… Well, don’t laugh, it could happen!  Anyway, when I tweeted that I was working on SPD cocktails, some friends responded with ideas that are acknowledged below.

My friend John Mahaffie suggested my first SPD cocktail: the O’jito.  Of course, he only suggested the name, leaving the hard part to me, but that’s part of the sad lot of an itinerant mixologist.  (Well, if my wife kicks me out, I could end up homeless.)  It’s a heavy cross to bear, but it must be born.  Of course, the O’jito is a Gaelic version of the Mojito, so it has to have mint in it.  I could have gone with a variation on the classic Mojito recipe, substituting Irish Whiskey for Rum and leaving out the lime, but I decided to go for something slightly more exotic.  I ended up with the concoction of mint, Baileys® Irish Cream, and Amaretto that you can find below.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

Another friend, Stephen Aguilar-Millan, recommended a classic, the Black Velvet.  The Black Velvet can be made by just combining the ingredients Guinness® Stout and Champagne, but it’s more dramatic if you layer them like a Pousse Café.  (See Derrick Schommer’s video for directions.)   This can be a little hard to do in a champagne flute, so practice first if you plan on trying to impress your friends.  Pour the layered ingredients carefully over the spoon to kill their velocity so they don’t combine with lower layers.  Remember, if you screw it up, you have to drink the results.   Due to the carbonation in both the stout and the champagne, the Black Velvet ingredients will gradually intermingle on their own, but when you first layer them the stout will appear to be rising in the champagne like mist off the lake at summer camp just before the slasher arrives.

I found the final cocktail in today’s post, the Emerald, on Paul Clarke’s excellent blog The Cocktail Chronicles.  You’ll notice that this sounds a lot like a Manhattan made with Irish Whiskey, and should be served pretty much in the same way.  Paul’s recipe called for orange bitters, but I tried the Emerald with three different types of bitters that I had in my bar: Peychaud’s®, Stirring’s® Blood Orange, and Agnostura®, and liked the results in the order listed.  My wife preferred the Blood Orange, so experiment if you have different types of bitters.

O’jito

6-8 Mint leaves

1 ½  oz Baileys® Irish Cream

1 ½  oz Amaretto

Place the mint and Amaretto into a mixing glass.  Muddle 15-20 times to release the oil and aroma of the mint.  Fill glass half full of ice, pour in the Bailey’s and stir well, being careful not to shred the mint leaves.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Black Velvet

3-6 oz chilled stout

3-6 oz chilled Champagne

The amount of the ingredients depends on the size of your glass.  Pour stout into a champagne flute or beer glass. Add champagne carefully, pouring it slowly over an inverted spoon so it does not mix with the stout, and serve.

Emerald

2 ounces Jameson Irish whiskey

3/4 ounce sweet vermouth

2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Stir with ice & strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a Maraschino cherry.