March 15, 2007

St. Patrick's Day Drink Recipes from TheBar.com

After some reader uproar about our general St. Patrick's Day scroogery, we've decided we'll get in the spirit after all. After all, there's no rule that says we have to go out to a crowded bar for our Guinness and whiskey and St. Patty's revelry. It dawned on us if we want to avoid the crowds and keep ourselves in a holiday frame of mind, all we have to do is stay at home and get quietly blind on St. Patrick's-themed drinks. Alternately, we could spend all day Saturday achieving said blindness, and THEN go out...that might make us a bit more accommodating of the crowds.

We checked out TheBar.com for our recipes, because it's run by Diageo, the folks who own Guinness. Since Guinness is commonly known as the only thing that kept the Irish from taking over the world, we thought it was a good place to start. We've rounded up a couple solid Guinness-based drinks...and for those who aren't quite ready to jump on the Guinness and Bushmill's bandwagon, we threw in a bonus drink that's on the fruitier side (but green as well).

Half & Half
Ingredients
0.5 pint Harp
0.5 pint Guinness

Preparation
Add Harp to pint glass
Float Guinness on top of Harp by pouring it over the back of a spoon

Liquor Snob Says
A lot of people who feel like they can't drink a full Guinness order a Black & Tan, thinking that's the Irish thing to do. It's actually not as popular in Ireland as you might think, and it's got some political and historical connotations you may not want to get into. The Half & Half is a combination of two Irish beers, or you could go for an Irish Black & Tan, which replaces Bass with Smithwick's. Slainte!

Guinness Shandy
Ingredients
0.75 pint Guinness
0.25 pint lemon-lime soda

Preparation
Add Guinness to pint glass and top off with lemon-lime soda

Liquor Snob Says
We're not so sure about diluting our Guinness with 7-UP or Sprite, but as our grandpappy used to say "it's impossible to ruin a Guinness." OK, he never really said that but we bet he would've if he'd thought of it. Plus, what can we say? It's Guinness and something green(ish). Maybe try it with limeade?

Smirnoff Green Apple Martini
Ingredients
1.25 oz. Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka
0.25 oz. apple schnapps
1 splash sour mix
1 slice apple

Preparation
• Fill shaker with ice
• Add Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka, apple schnapps, and sour mix
• Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass

Liquor Snob Says
It ain't Irish, but it sure is green!