St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. You don’t have to travel to be with family, there’s no gifting involved— and, at most, all you are asked to do is have drinks with friends and perhaps wear the color green. The most celebrated national holiday in the world, St. Patrick’s Day has come far from its beginnings as a Christian feast day.
And if there’s one rule that binds all of us together on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s that, on this day, all people and drinks are Irish, and, if you’re going to go Irish for the day, you may as well know what to order at the bar. Many St. Patrick’s Day cocktails tend to be green and sport clever names, like the neon-green Lucky-tini, yet don’t even include an Irish whiskey or liqueur. For this edition of Classic Cocktailist, I’ll be looking at true Irish cocktails, as well as those that pass for Irish in the spirit of the holiday.
I began my exploration of Irish cocktails at The Dubliner (4 F Street NW), where bartender Misha Simon was kind enough to make an Irish Kilt according to my recipe. I chose two ounces of Teeling Single Grain Whiskey, which owes its rich malty and honeyed character to aging in sauvignon blanc casks. Add to it an ounce each of blended scotch, lemon juice, and simple syrup, finishing with a dash of orange bitters. Shake and strain it into a cocktail glass, and you have a great unifier of Celtic spirits. The Shetland Pony is another classic Irish cocktail I enjoyed there, featuring three-quarters of an ounce of Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur, which is shaken with two ounces of scotch and a dash of bitters and then served up.
Bourbon (2321 18th Street NW) is not an Irish pub, but general manager Jessica Dallesasse has a concoction that passes the test. The Glendalough Stirred Cocktail is made with its namesake Glendalough Double Barrel whiskey. Comprised of a high grain component of corn and aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in Oloroso sherry casks, Glendalough Double Barrel has a fittingly bourbon-like character for the Adams Morgan bar’s menu. The whiskey itself is light on the palate, but equal portions of Lillet Rosé, Amaro di Angostura, and bitters help ground the cocktail with flavors of aromatized wine.
On St. Patrick’s Day, Macon Bistro & Larder (5520 Connecticut Avenue NW) is holding a Chartreuse party from 6 to 11 p.m., with six cocktails and free samples of the liqueur in honor of the holiday. Chartreuse may be green, but it is, of course, French. More Gaul than Gaelic, green Chartreuse adds an herbaceous note to classic cocktails like The Last Word and the Bijou, and its verdant color is iconic. Try it in Pot ‘O Gold with 86 Co. Aylesbury Duck Vodka, Nonino Amaro, and Bauchant, a cognac-based orange liqueur. It is served in a coupe glass with a house-made candied ginger coin garnish for a spicy, if not actually authentic, Irish treat. The milder yellow Chartreuse stands out in Smoke Me Out, a liquor-forward rocks drink with Fidencio Mezcal, Pig’s Nose blended scotch whiskey, and barrel-aged bitters. These drinks and more are available from Thursday to Sunday for $14 each.
BLT Steak (1625 I Street NW) is, again, not an Irish pub, but head bartender James Nelson is mixing up decadent Irish cream liqueurs that are available all month. First created in the 1970s, Irish cream is a relatively new phenomenon as far as liqueurs go, but Nelson’s house-made Irish creams are the real deal, using Jameson whiskey and heavy cream as the base of a mixture that is strained, bottled, and chilled. Fresh fruit and mint are then added to create mint and raspberry Irish creams that can be ordered neat or used in specialty cocktails for $16. These include A Grasshopper and a Leprechaun Walk into a Bar featuring Jameson, mint Irish cream, and chocolate liqueur and The Dubliner’s Breakfast, made with Bacardi 8, raspberry Irish cream, and Kahlua. Sláinte!
