Parades, festivals, music and dancing are back on the agenda for St Patrick's Day this year.
And with Irish whiskey enjoying a boom – it’s the fastest growing brown spirit in the world – there couldn’t be a better time to try your hand at making a whiskey cocktail.
As Dawn Davies, head buyer at The Whisky Exchange puts it,
“There are so many new Irish whiskey brands and distilleries coming on to the market at the moment, that Ireland is having something of a renaissance."
“Coupled with the fact we can actually celebrate together, this year it should be a St Patrick’s day to remember.”
To help you get in the spirit, we've put together seven Irish Whiskey recipes for you to try this St Patrick's Day.
More from the News Letter:
1. Drinks by the Dram 12 Dram Irish Whiskey Collection
Not a cocktail recipe, but instead an Irish Whiskey Collection. Drinks by the Dram, includes a dozen whiskey drams to try. Add a little water to open up the aromas and layers – it’s proof Irish whiskey brings just as much to the table as Scotch and bourbon. Photo: PA
2. Bushmills Sour
Bushmills is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. This is their spin on a whiskey sour – it’s perfect for mixing or drinking neat. Ingredients: 50ml Bushmills Original Irish Whiskey (£21, 70cl, Waitrose), 20ml honey syrup, 20ml lemon juice, egg white, 3 dashes Angostura bitters, honeycomb to garnish. Method: Add the egg white to a cocktail shaker and dry shake on its own. Then add the rest of the ingredients, ice and shake again. Pour into glass, add the dashes of angostura bitters on the frothy egg white and garnish with honeycomb. Photo: PA
3. Slane’s Power of Three
Slane’s Power of Three is a collaboration between Slane Irish Whiskey and Sunday Brunch Mixologist Pritesh Moody, to create a delicious refreshing drink with three core ingredients: whiskey, apricot and crémant. Ingredients: 50ml Slane Irish Whiskey (£30.03, 70cl, Amazon), 10ml elderflower cordial, 1tsp quality apricot jam, 50ml Crémant de Loire, 2 sage leaves. Method: Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the whiskey, jam, one torn sage leaf and elderflower cordial in a cocktail shaker and shake hard. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice, top with Crémant de Loire. Garnish with a sage leaf. Photo: PA
4. Teeling Whiskey Ginger
The Teeling brothers are part of the new generation of distillers who’ve led the push into innovative whiskeys. This flagship Whiskey is aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in ex-central American rum casks for a period of around 12 months. With a deliciously fruity profile, vanilla, sweet spice and lingering woody undertones, top with ginger to savour those lively, spicy notes. Method: Pour 50ml Teeling Small Batch Whiskey (£34.95, 70cl, Master of Malt) into a highball glass half filled with ice. Top with ginger ale and garnish with a slice of lime. Photo: PA