Thursday, March 06, 2008
St. Patrick's Day cocktails
Americans love to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. So this year, in addition to the wearin' o' the green, you may also want to try the sippin' o the green -- green cocktails, that is. Along with Guinness beer, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Irish whiskies like Jameson and Bushmills, there are plenty of cocktails reminiscent of shillelaghs, shamrocks and the Emerald Isle.
If you really like a drink that can kick like a sprightly leprechaun, try Green Chartreuse (www.chartreuse.fr), a French-made 110-proof herbal liqueur created from 130 herbs, plants and flowers.
When I sampled the liqueur, whose mysterious recipe is supposedly unknown to everyone on Earth except for three Carthusian monks, everything from cloves to citrus to cinnamon to pine surfaced on my tongue. With the infusion of so many ingredients, Green Chartreuse, while not overly sweet, tastes different depending upon individual palettes.
I detected more of the pine, for example, but maybe that's because I'm from Georgia where the tall pines grow, while another friend's first impression was lemon. Yet another said it reminded her of a strong herbal tea. All in all, while Green Chartreuse is best sipped ice cold, you might have a bit o' luck o' the Irish with this cocktail:
THE SHAMROCK
1 ½ ounces Irish whiskey½ ounce dry vermouth
½ ounce green creme de menthe
1 teaspoon Green Chartreuse
Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
The range of green liqueurs is wide indeed, and from the folks at Hiram Walker (hiramwalker.com) and DeKuyper (dekuyperusa.com) come several delectably verdant flavors including sour apple, pear, creme de menthe and melon. Here's a variety of sweet-and-sour cocktails to please all the elves at your St. Pat's party. For each cocktail, simply combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice, then strain into an appropriate-sized glass.
PERNOD APPLE-TINI
¾ ounce Pernod¾ ounce Hiram Walker Sour Apple Schnapps
1 ounce fresh lemon sour (equal parts of simple sugar and fresh lemon juice)
MELON BALL
2 parts Hiram Walker Melon Liqueur1 part Stolichnaya Vodka
Top with orange juice, grapefruit juice or pineapple juice.
ST. PADDY APPLE
1 part DeKuyper Pucker Sour Apple Schnapps1 part Jim Beam bourbon
IRISH EYES
¼ ounce DeKuyper's Creme de Menthe Green1 ounce Irish whiskey
2 ounces heavy cream
