Over the past few centuries, the Feast of St. Patrick, a humble religious holiday, has stretched and morphed into St. Patrick’s Day, a jubilant celebration of all things Irish. It’s a day to celebrate corned beef and cabbage, trad music — and, of course, whiskey. But have you ever wondered how whiskey came to be associated with Ireland, and St. Patrick’s Day in particular, in the first place?
The answer to the first question is somewhat simple: Although largely shrouded in the historical past, historians can agree on a few basic details about the birth of whiskey in Ireland. It’s believed that Irish monks first brought the technique of distilling to Ireland around 1000 A.D., after returning from the Mediterranean and Middle East. They originally used the techniques to distill perfumes, but after a few years of tinkering, and perhaps inspired by the difficulty of growing grapes to make wine in Ireland, the monks figured out to how to distill something worth drinking. The rest, as they say, is history.
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A Not So Brief History
As for how whiskey and St. Patrick became connected, a bit more digging was required to find a likely answer. Most sources trace the connection back to an ancient folk legend involving the man who would become St. Patrick, and a lesson about generosity. The legend of Pota Phádraig, or “Patrick’s Pot” begins, of course, with St. Patrick visiting a bar during his travels throughout Ireland in about the fifth century. (Well, technically it was an inn, but inns, or public houses, were the only bars for centuries.)
According to the story, this hostelry was a total dive. There were people fighting and cursing and in general, behaving badly. Observing his fellow patrons, St. Patrick noticed that they were receiving short pours of whiskey. Soon enough, he ordered a drink of his own from the innkeeper, and noticed that he too received a short pour. As the legend goes, St. Patrick told the innkeeper that the reason for the unrest and strife in the hostelry was because the devil himself was in the cellar, feeding on the landlord’s stinginess.
As you might imagine, this was absolutely terrifying to the innkeeper, who quickly promised to change his ways. Sometime later, St. Pat returns to the inn, and finds it filled with cheerful folk with overflowing glasses of whiskey. Such generosity was now starving Old Scratch, St. Patrick said. And in honor of the incident, everyone should have a bit of the whiskey each year on his feast day.
Now, let’s fast forward a few centuries. These days, everyone’s a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, which means there’s no better time to celebrate the spirit of generosity with the Irish tradition of Pota Phádraig and a few whiskey cocktails. Sláinte!
The Irish Maid of Clifton
Inspired by the classic Irish Maid cocktail, this version substitutes a blended whiskey from Clifton’s own Black Prince Distillery for the traditional Jameson’s.
Ingredients:
3 thin slices, fresh cucumber
2 oz. R.J. Hodges American Whiskey
½ oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
¾ oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ oz. simple syrup
Method:
- Muddle two of the cucumber slices in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
- Add the whiskey, St. Germain, lemon juice and simple syrup to the shaker, then fill with ice.
- Shake the mixture vigorously, then strain the cocktail into a chilled serving glass filled with ice.
- Garnish with the remaining cucumber slice, if desired.
Laird’s Irish Jack Rose
This cocktail, which utilizes both Irish whiskey and New Jersey’s own applejack, is about at Irish-American as it gets for St. Patrick’s Day.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Redbreast 12 Year Old Pot Still Irish Whiskey
½ oz. Laird’s Applejack
½ oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed
½ oz. grenadine
Lime wedge, for garnish
Maraschino cherry, for garnish (optional)
Method:
- Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Shake vigorously, and then strain the mixture into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge and maraschino cherry (if desired), and enjoy.
Barnegat Crossroad Irish Coffee
This twist on the traditional Irish coffee is inspired by the journey of St. Patrick. Who knows what would’ve happened had he not stopped at that inn by an Irish crossroads? Jersey Spirits Distilling Co.’s Barnegat White Whiskey is the basis of their aged Crossroads Whiskey, and distilled three times like many pot still Irish whiskeys.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Barnegat White Whiskey from Jersey Spirits Distilling Co.
2 oz. Bailey’s Original Irish Cream
6 oz. black coffee, hot
Whipped cream, for garnish
Grated cinnamon, for garnish
Method:
- Combine the whiskey, Bailey’s, and coffee in a tall glass.
- Top the mixture with a generous spoonful of whipped cream and grated cinnamon, if desired.
The Belfast Cocktail
This cocktail is named after the largest city in Northern Ireland, according to Francis P. Schott, co-founder and beverage director of Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi Restaurants in New Brunswick. “A few years back, the then-Lord Mayor of Belfast (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir), made an official visit to New Brunswick. He had lunch here with our Mayor Jim Cahill [who is half-Irish himself], and we had to come up with a drink to commemorate the occasion. The following year, Mayor Cahill led the first city trade delegation to Belfast in 20 years. When we got there, we were surprised and delighted to have this drink served at the official dinner in the Mayor’s Parlor.
It was a big hit and I know it is on the menu now at Catherine Lombardi and in at least one bar in Belfast. Though the drink has no Irish ingredients, it’s inspired by a staple of all authentic Irish bars, which many Irish-Americans have never heard of,” Schott continued. “At the end of the night in Ireland, it’s very common to order a ‘Brandy and Port,’ especially if there’s a nip in the air. What you will get in a true Irish bar is a snifter of brandy with a half ounce of port to soften and sweeten it. What you will get in most ‘Irish-American’ bars is a blank stare. So I took this quintessentially Irish flavor pairing and built a cocktail from it. It’s delicious.”
Ingredients:
½ oz. cinnamon syrup
1½ oz. ruby port (try the 2006 Porto Rosso from Hopewell Valley Vineyards)
1½ oz. Hennessy VS Cognac
½ oz. Poire Williams eau de vie
Dash, orange bitters (use Regan’s, if possible)
Dash, Angostura Bitters (or DeGroff Bitters, if possible)
Method:
- Make the cinnamon syrup: Combine 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cinnamon stick in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes, or until the desired flavor strength has been reached. Set aside until ready to use.
- Combine the cinnamon syrup with the remaining ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with orange peel and grated cinnamon. This cocktail is great to make ahead: it will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks, and is delicious in other applications.
Gunpowder Sour
This cocktail was created by Hackettstown’s own Sam Kling, Spirits Buyer/Assistant Manager for The Greene Grape wine store in Brooklyn, NY. While this cocktail uses no Irish sprits, I like to think its blend of flavors from around the world honors the rich tradition of Irish explorers such as Francis Beaufort, creator of the Beaufort Scale, which measures wind force; nurse, restauranteur, and businesswoman Nellie Cashman; and Friar James of Ireland, who first visited Asia in the fourteenth century. Kling offers a tip for those seeking to further explore the world of whiskey cocktails on their own.
“It is important to consider the proof and flavor profile of your whiskey when deciding which whiskey to use in a given cocktail,” Kling said. “If a recipe calls for maple syrup, I’d usually opt for a spicier bourbon (such as Four Roses) or Kentucky rye (Rittenhouse) which has more corn than the new Indiana stuff…[because] a sweeter, richer bourbon…might taste cloying with maple…I also opt for higher proof whiskey in cocktails that will be served over ice. [For example,] I’ll use max 2½ oz. in a julep, but there’s so much crushed ice —which also, incidentally calls for more sugar to balance the dilution — that I usually opt for [something like] Noah’s Mill Cask Strength [whiskey].” Also, besides just spice and sweet, it can be nice to consider pairing an herbal rye like Redemption or Ragtime with drinks that use Chartreuse, Benedictine, amaros, and other herbal liqueurs,” Kling continued. “It makes for a more interesting cocktail”
Ingredients:
½ oz. Gunpowder syrup (2 Tbs. loose gunpowder tea, 1/2 lbs. water, 1/2 Tbs. demerara sugar)
2 oz. Akashi White Oak (or other blended Japanese Whisky)
¾ oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained
¼ oz. Orgeat Works Macadamia Orgeat syrup (or Fee Brothers Orgeat Syrup, in a pinch)
½ egg white (optional)
Black sesame seeds, for garnish
Orange flower water, for garnish
Method:
- Make the gunpowder syrup: combine the tea, water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved and the desired flavor strength has been achieved.
- Add the gunpowder syrup, whiskey, lemon juice, macadamia orgeat syrup and the remaining ingredients to a chilled cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Note: If omitting the egg white, shake the ingredients vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe glass. If using the egg white, shake the mixture hard for about 15 seconds, then add ice and shake for about 15 seconds more, and then strain into the cocktail glass.
- Garnish as desired with black sesame seeds and a spritz of orange flower water.
Top (Hero) Image Courtesy: © bbourdages/Dollar Photo Club
Additional Body Images (In Order) Courtesy:
Cheryl Casey/Dollar Photo Club
The Black Prince Distillery
Antonio Cavallo / Wikimedia Commons
Jersey Spirits Distilling Co.
Stage Left Restaurant / Francis P. Schott
Hopewell Valley Vineyards
blazer76 / Dollar Photo Club
