Three Non-Green Beer Drinks for Adults for St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day comes next weekend, and with it comes the onslaught of overly eco-friendly consumables. To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of aggressively colored beers, not because I’m afraid of food coloring, but because beer is usually shitty.
If you want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with an adult-themed drink other than emerald-colored beers, consider making (or ordering) one (or all) of the following:
- The last word: the green color of this classic cocktail gives green chartreuse , complex herbal liqueur made by French monks, who flatly refuse to share their recipe. Despite its incredibly complex taste, this drink is amazingly easy to prepare and combines equal parts of gin, chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and freshly squeezed lime juice (3/4 ounce each, to be precise). Just pour everything into the filled cocktail shaker. with ice, shake and strain into a glass for a compartment. Garnish with a lime wedge or zest for a festive color.
- Grasshopper: The Grasshopper is basically the drinker’s answer to the Shamrock cocktail, and it’s pretty darn delicious, my friends. While most Grasshoppers are made with equal parts white crème de cocoa, crème de menthe, and heavy cream, I like to take a cue from a drinks blog and add some cognac in there. Simply combine 1 ounce each of white creme de cocoa and creme de menthe, plus 1 1/2 ounce each of cognac and heavy cream. Shake it all together with ice, strain into a nice glass and sprinkle with chocolate shavings if you so desire. (Boss turn: Make your own creme de ment .)
- South Exposure: This cocktail – from the Honestly Yum blog – is the complete opposite of a grasshopper and takes on its color from a fresh-death blend of lime juice, celery juice and fresh mint. But don’t worry, this is not a medicinal drink, because it contains gin, or rather an ounce and a half. Place the gin in an ice shaker along with 3/4 ounce of plain syrup, 3/4 ounce of celery juice, 1/2 ounce of lime juice, and 7 mint leaves. Shake, shake, shake, strain and garnish with another mint leaf.
If you’re not in the mood to kiss an Irishman, I think you can try the green beer or just drink what you usually do on a Friday night. This is always a good option.