The Irish like to taste their whiskey. Therefore I had some difficulty coming up with Irish whiskey drinks for this post. The Irish don’t like to mix their whiskey with anything because it changes the flavor. However, I did find a few good Irish Whiskey drinks that we tried and approved of. The rest of the recipes are fun drinks for Saint Patrick’s Day, while not being traditionally Irish.
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History of St. Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated March 17th, the day of Patrick’s death. The Irish have celebrated the Roman Catholic feast day since approximately the 9th century. However, according to history.com the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade took place in the the U.S. in my state of Florida. The first parade commemorating this holiday was in the Spanish colony of St. Augustine in 1601. The previous year the Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur organized a Saint Patrick’s Day celebration and then created the first parade the following year.
In 1772, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English army marched in NYC to honor the saint. As Irish immigration grew so did the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations in America. As the Irish spread across the U.S. so did their celebrations. In 2006, even the Chicago River was dyed green!
While this year, for the second year in a row celebrations are kept minimal, you can at least celebrate at home with these festive drinks.
Irish Whiskey Drinks
Irish Whiskey Drink #1: Kiss of the Irish
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce honey
- 5 ounces Irish Whiskey
- several sprigs of mint
Directions
- Begin by muddling several mint leaves with honey.
- When well muddled, add honey mixture and whiskey in a cocktail shaker and blend.
- Once blended pour into two cordial glasses and garnish each with a sprig of mint.
Note: The Irish don’t like to add ice or water to their whiskey because it dilutes the flavor. For serious whiskey drinkers, you may want to learn how to drink whiskey like an Irishman.
Irish Whiskey Drink #2: I-rush Espresso
Instead of regular coffee, we decided to bump this up a notch and use espresso instead. Sometimes a regular coffee before dinner is too filling so an espresso is just the right size. Then add an ounce of Irish Whiskey to your espresso for an Irish happy hour rush.
Irish Whiskey Drink #3: The Italian Irishman
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Irish Whiskey
- ounce sour mix
- 1/2 ounce Amaretto
- green cocktail sugar
- honey
Directions
- Prepare glass by lightly brushing rim with honey and dipping in green cocktail sugar. We found honey works the best to adhere sugar, but you can rub the rim with a lemon or lime instead.
- After that, pour the rest of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake. Then strain into prepared cocktail glasses and add more ice.
Alternatively you can add a drop of green food coloring. Also for the rim we found that cake decorating sugars from your local grocery store are the same thing as cocktail sugars so you should be able to find them easily.
For instructions on how to make simple syrup and sour mix watch these videos:
Irish Whiskey Drink #4: Irish Shillelagh
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Paddy’s Irish Whiskey
- 1/2 ounce light rum
- 1/2 ounce sloe gin
- ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
- teaspoon simple syrup
- maraschino cherry
- fruit slices to garnish
Directions
Mix all liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Then strain into an ice filled cocktail glass and garnish with fruit.
If you don’t already have whiskey glasses check out these sponsored links:
Irish Whiskey Drink #5: Blarney Stone
We changed some of the traditional ingredients a bit but the main focus is still the same.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Irish Whiskey
- 1/4 ounce Triple Sec
- 1/4 ounce Galliano
- Dash Angostura bitters
- Dash maraschino cherry juice
- Maraschino cherry to garnish
Directions
Mix all liquid ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Strain into ice filled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Irish Whiskey Drink #6: Irish Boiler Maker
This is an easy one. Just pour your beer. We used Harp. Then fill a shot glass with Irish Whiskey. We used Slane. Then drop the shot in the beer. I expected it to make a big mess like when you mix baking soda and vinegar. However, as you can see from the video that is not the case. So you can be fancy without creating a mess.
Not Irish Whiskey Drinks
Appeltini
While not an Irish whiskey drink, this is a tasty green drink to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces of DeKuper Apple Pucker
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka
Mix ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a martini glass.
Melontini
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Midori
- 1 1/2 ounces Pinnacle Cake Vodka
Follow the directions for the Appletini. This just has a brighter green color to it.
Shamrock
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Kettle One Cucumber Mint Vodka
- splash lime juice
- club soda
- green cocktail shimmer
- cucumber for garnish
- mint sprig for garnish
Directions
- Fill cocktail glass with ice and add the vodka. Then add a splash of lime juice and stir.
- After that, fill to the top with club soda.
- Meanwhile, for the garnish, cut a thick slice of cucumber from the end to prevent having too many seeds. Then using a decorative cutter cut a shamrock for the garnish.
- Once your garnish is prepared add a few dashes of cocktail shimmer to the drink for color and stir. Then top with a sprig of mint and place the shamrock on the side of the glass.
We recommend Kettle One vodka because it has all natural ingredients and has a really fresh cucumber flavor. This is a very light refreshing cocktail and is great for summer not just Saint Patrick’s Day. Amount of club soda can be adjusted to taste. Also, make sure not to add too much lime juice as it will overpower the cucumber flavor.
I am providing these sponsored links if you don’t already have these fun shape cutters:
Here are some additional sponsored links to get you started on your journey as a mixologist:
Hope you enjoy these drinks. They are meant to be fun and entertaining to help celebrating being Irish at home when we can’t be truly Irish by drinking with friends in the pub!
Donna Emperador is a travel and food blogger and copywriter. Donna believes in learning about different cultures while sharing good food and cocktails. She has lived in South Florida for over 20 years and enjoys spending time exploring the road to find unique places to share with readers. She can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.