It might be an understatement to say that the weather has been a little strange in D.C. lately. All the temperature fluctuations are wreaking havoc on the native flora, pushing back the cherry blossom peak bloom to late March (though the snow and ice this week now has that all up in the air). That means two of the biggest hospitality events in the District—St. Patrick’s Day-themed menus and the influx of millions of blossom seeking tourists—will overlap.

With Mother Nature throwing a curveball, the city’s bartenders are responding in kind with a bumper crop of blossom drinks and green cocktails unlike anything in past years. This unpredictable spring has spurred more creativity from mixologists looking to please both blossom tourists and this upcoming weekend’s green cocktail drinkers.

St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal for Bar Dupont (1500 New Hampshire Ave. NW), which belongs to the Irish-based Doyle Collection hotels. Beginning on Friday, March 17, their bar team is seamlessly bridging St. Patrick’s Day cocktails with cherry blossom season specials.

“We want to elevate the palate of what could be a touristy thing, so we see it as an opportunity,” says Edie Burns, the restaurant’s assistant general manager of outlets.

Both Bar Dupont menus avoid artificial green and pink colors typical of spring cocktails. A classic Tipperary, with Glendalough 7 single malt Scotch, Carpano Antica vermouth, and Green Chartreuse ends up as a pale shade of green. Another Green Chartreuse drink, the Green Lift Fizz—the whiskey, tonic and green Chartreuse going half way up the glass like an elevator—is topped with a head of frothy yellow egg white foam.

If anything, the natural infusions and juices that color these drinks have turned the two celebrations on their heads. It stands to reason that ingredients in an Irish cocktail can be pink, while Japanese ingredients are often green.

For instance, the Four-Leaf Jack Rose, with Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey and Laird’s applejack, mixes Irish and American spirits. A house-made pomegranate syrup gives this classic an obtusely pink color for St. Paddy’s Day.

On the cherry blossom menu, try the bright green Ricky San. It’s a nod to D.C.’s own Rickey cocktail but with the addition of matcha green tea powder and yuzu juice to the usual Hendrick’s gin, soda, and lime.

In some respects, spring 2017 is the year where D.C. bars stopped reacting to cherry blossom season with perfunctory pink menu items. The fact that there’s a Cherry Blossom Pop-Up Bar (1843 7th St NW) is proof that we’re making the season our own rather than submitting to tourists’ expectations. Those aren’t tourists lining up down 7th Street to get a cocktail, after all.

In the former space of Southern Efficiency, the blossoms may be beautiful to look at while sipping, but the Super Mario Bros. takeover of Mockingbird Hill and Nintendo-themed drinks are all about fun.

Here, exotic ingredients like pomelo and mandarin orange juice come together with apricot soda and vodka in What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Smaller, a wonderfully effervescent highball drink in a bamboo-shaped glass.

I Call Yoshi, a drink named after Mario’s beloved sidekick, gets its green color from muddled cucumber and melon as much as Midori and Chartreuse. But unfiltered sake gives the drink an opaque skin tone in the glass.

The marshmallow and flower “eye” garnishes and the shape of the mug create the profile of the video game character. Mario’s Nemesis has his own cocktail: King Koopa Cup with Johnny Smoking Gun whiskey, “popcorn” rice green tea, and ginger.

Green tea seems like a fad this year for both St. Patrick’s Day and Cherry Blossom Festival specials, even in the suburbs. Matcha is in the Green Eyed Lass—Strange Monkey gin, Dolin blanc vermouth and egg white—at Red’s Table (11150 South Lakes Dr., Reston, VA) and also the Green Monster (are we talking about Godzilla or Fenway Park?). Try the latter with gin, cava, lavender syrup, lemon juice, and bitters at All Set Restaurant & Bar (8630 Fenton St. Plaza 5, 20910) in Silver Spring.

Fresh ingredients and thoughtfully constructed cocktails are not new to D.C. locals, but for tourists unused to a city with a strong cocktail culture, they can be a bit bewildering.

The St. Gregory Hotel (2033 M Street NW) does this when presenting The Evolution to guests upon arrival. Hendrick’s gin, with its rose petal infusion, and a floral prosecco are served on the rocks, dusted with cherry hibiscus dust and garnished with flowers.

Bartender Giancarlo Cruz says, “sometimes when guests have never been to a cocktail bar before, it’s their first time in Washington, they try the cocktail and go nuts for it.”

You might have heard of the Tom Collins cocktail with gin, or the Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, but the Saigo Collins, named after revolutionary samurai Saigo Takamori, combines dry Irish whiskey, sweet sake, and bitter matcha powder. Make it at home to see how well the flavors blend.

• 2 oz. Irish whiskey
• 1 oz. sake
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• ½ oz. simple syrup
• ½ tsp. matcha powder
• orange slice
• green maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker and stir in matcha powder. Shake to combine, then add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a Collins glass full of ice and garnish with cherry and orange slice.