What to drink on St. Patrick’s Day

Tonight, Amy and I will have a selection of genuine Irish beers to choose from: Guinness, Harp, O’Hara’s, Smithwick’s and Kilkenny. I may also sneak a vial of green food colouring into the party we’re going to.

And I hope someone bites the bullet and brings some expensive Irish whiskey that I can sample.

There’s also Bailey’s — or creme de menthe for something that’s an ungodly shade of green.

But that’s not all your choices have to be (although, let’s be honest, that’s a pretty good set of choices!).

The New York Times is there, asking bartenders to stir Irish whiskey into a cocktail. I know! I know! But check out one of the ones that they came up with:

• 1 ounce Bushmills Irish whiskey
• 1/2 ounce cherry liqueur
• 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 whole egg.

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake very vigorously, for at least 10 seconds, to emulsify the egg. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Although the very idea is shocking to some (the Bushmills master distiller is quoted as saying “I’m sure my father never drank a cocktail in his life.”) the concept is interesting. In fact, the cocktails they came up with were guided by “the traditional Irish breakfast — eggs, bacon, black and white pudding, and toast”