The Only St. Paddy’s Day Drinks You’ll Ever Need

We are exactly 0% Irish here at Never Dry in Seattle, but that doesn’t stop us from getting in the spirit of this most green of holidays.  I’m excited to feature some of the best drinks that I’ve found, and one that I created myself for you to enjoy this St. Paddy’s Day.

First off, here’s my twist on Irish Coffee.  My cocktail is served cold, and up (without ice).  It also doesn’t have all the whipped cream that usually accompanies this drink.  The addition of Averna (Italian amaro with herbal notes and an espresso finish) lends a great deal of depth to the drink and the bitters add a very nice finish.  This drink will wake you up and get your Irish eyes a’ smilin’…

Irish Coffee Cocktail #2

1oz Jameson, 1oz Starbucks Casi Cielo coffee liqueur, 1/4oz Averna, 2 dashes cardamom bitters, 2 dashes chocolate bitters

Combine ingredients over ice, stir well and strain into a cocktail or rocks glass.  Served up.

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Next up is a simple variation of a Moscow Mule… and (big surprise) we’ve added Irish Whiskey.  I’ve dubbed it “The Midleton Mule” because I am obnoxiously obsessed with alliteration.  Anyway, this drink is light, refreshing and features my favorite local ginger beer: Rachel’s.

The Midleton Mule

2oz Jameson, 4oz Rachel’s Ginger Beer, Lime wedge

Mix ingredients over ice.  Squeeze lime wedge over the drink.  Use a copper mug if you want to look super classy.

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And finally, a classic American cocktail with an Irish twist…  Jameson just came out with a new label, Jameson Black Barrel, that uses more Bourbon barrels in the aging process.  The finished blend is spicier and a little sweeter; it’s almost like a Bourbon/Irish Whiskey hybrid.  Which makes it great in this drink…

The Dublin Sazerac

3oz Jameson Black Barrel, 1 tsp superfine sugar, 4-5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters, Absinthe rinse, Lemon twist

Add sugar and bitters to the bottom of one glass, muddle and mix well.  Add the whiskey to the mixture and stir until everything is dissolved.  Grab another, preferably well chilled glass and add a dash of absinthe, swirl the glass and dump any residual absinthe out.  Add ice to the whiskey, bitters & sugar mixture and stir until well chilled.  Strain into the absinthe rinsed glass and add a lemon twist.

You can also see my post on how to make a classic Sazerac cocktail here.

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We hope you’ll take a break from the usual Guinness and green beer and have a taste of these three delicious cocktails.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh! (Happy St. Patrick’s Day in Gaelic)

Cheers!

Cocktail Christmas Day 21: The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping

What on earth was the person in The 12 Days of Christmas going to do with the 10 lords a’ leaping?  Do they continuously leap?  If so, I bet they A) have pretty massive quads and B) get thirsty pretty quickly.  Today’s drink is a solid choice for a Lord or Lady with a strong post-leap thirst.

The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping is a unique combination of bourbon, bitters, spice, and lime juice.  The citrus and spice make me a very happy drinker!  Here’s how it’s done…

The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping

2oz Eagle Rare 10 year bourbon

0.5oz fresh lime juice

0.5oz honey syrup

.25oz Allspice Dram

5 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine ingredients over ice, shake or stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The drink isn’t something extremely special but it is a very nice drink that adds an element of holiday cheer to a simple drink.  The Eagle Rare 10 year bourbon is very nice and I normally wouldn’t mix it into a cocktail other than a Manhattan or something similar.  Eagle Rare is a very strongly flavored bourbon with many levels and a powerful punch towards the finish.  It was a hit at the Bourbon tasting I had late last month.  Adding so many other powerful ingredients can overpower a lesser bourbon but the Eagle Rare stands up to the Allspice and bitters quite well.

The honey syrup is simple to make.  Mix equal parts hot water and honey together and let it cool.  It’s just like watered down honey but it mixes well into drinks and gives it a nice clover honey flavor.

Really, this drink could be made with any aged spirit.  The original recipe calls for Scotch (I didn’t have a 10 year scotch and still wanted to make the joke) but I think a good rum or even tequila could work well.  Give it a try and let me know what works.

Cheers!

Cocktail Christmas Day 19: Harvest Moon

I had high hopes for this drink but it ended up pretty middle of the road.  I tried to dress it up a bit with all sorts of garnishes and messed with the proportions but it was a little funky any way that I poured it.

The Harvest Moon is a basic and classic fall/holiday cocktail that has almost as many variations as wassail.  Here’s how I did it…

Harvest Moon

1.5oz Applejack

0.5oz Lime juice

0.5oz Orgeat

1 dash Angostura bitters

Mix ingredients in shaker over ice, stir and strain into a chilled coup glass.  Garnish with whatever you please.  Sip.

I really tried hard to enjoy this drink but it seemed really tame compared to yesterday’s drink, The Brain-Duster.  I tried this drink with Orgeat (a sweetener flavored with almond and a few spices) and then tried it with Falernum.  Both ways were pretty good but a little lackluster.  I garnished with apple slices and fresh grated nutmeg.  This added some nice aroma to the drink but couldn’t quite round it out to the place where I wanted it.

The taste is nice, very crowd pleasing, and easy drinking.  It’s not a strong apple flavor but rather one with nice citrus and fresh fruit flavors.  Apple was hard to pick out actually.

This is a recipe that I will play with more to try to get right.  Until then, I give it a subpar grade.  Hmmm… what to do to make it better?  Any suggestions?

Cheers!