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”
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