The Shamrock

OK....I guess I can't let the day get away without one more quick post. It's called the Shamrock, it's green, and it's St. Patty's day - and I know that the Jimmie Lee, though good, will not be for everyone. So here's another for you if you happen to still be looking for a little more Saint Patrick's Day inspiration.

It comes from Hugo R. Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks.

The Shamrock:


1 1/2 ounces (45 ml) Red Breast Irish Whiskey
1 1/2 ounces (45 ml) Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) green Chartreuse
1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) Creme de Menthe


Stir with cracked ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve with an olive.

This isn't the first time I've mixed this one, or the first time I've thought the olive was a bit much to be honest.

It's a very strange drink, the olive's saltiness tends to be a bit distracting to me making me thing it could be a contrived garnish to go with the "green" theme. An actual shamrock, or bit of mint makes more sense to me.

Still, like I said, it's not the first time I've made this one. The fact that it is half Irish Whiskey still surprises as I sip away. The Creme de Menthe just seems to add color and no strong flavor other than to lighten the strong herbals of the chartreuse green with a hint of mint. Overall, a very enjoyable cocktail.

So, should you feel compelled to make a "green martini" for this or a future St. Patrick's day celebration, consider this alternative from the last known bartender's guide to be published in NYC before prohibition.

(By the way, the olive does make an excellent treat at the end, probably why I still use it.)

Tipperary

...these are a few of my favorite things...

Tipperary Cocktail


1 ounce (30 ml) Irish whiskey
3/4 ounce (22 ml) Chartreuse green
3/4 ounce (22 ml) sweet vermouth

Stir well with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.


Red Breast Irish Whisky, Chartreuse green and Carpano Antica. Enough said. Enjoy

Wild-Eyed Rose

This recipe is from Hugo R. Ensslin's 1917 book " Recipes for Mixed Drinks". Appearing in the back of the book under the heading "Miscellaneous Mixed Drinks", the recipe reads as follows:

WILD EYED ROSE
Juice 1/2 Lime
1/2 pony Grenadine
1 drink of Irish Whiskey


Serve in highball glass with cube of ice and fizz with carbonated water.


Here's my interpretation:

Wild-Eyed Rose
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce grenadine
2 ounces Red Breast Irish Whiskey


Place large cube of ice in highball glass. Add lime juice, grenadine, then the whiskey. Top off with sparkling mineral water. If you do this in the right sequence, you will get the layered look in the photo above.


The name is appropriate here, as the first drink tends to leave you a bit "wild-eyed". It's sweet, tart, and tangy, but without any of those flavors becoming dominating or cloying.

I don't think you can go wrong using Red Breast in any recipe calling for Irish Whiskey. In the "Wild-eyed Rose", the whiskey fades to the background merely offering elusive hints of the wood-aged spirit, rather than the punch in the nose that this quantity would normally deliver.

All-in-all this is a very nice, very drinkable highball, My first round of photos didn't work out, and I had already tasted the drink before I found out. Making another for more photos was an easy decision!

Mixed for drinking, the Wild-Eyed Rose takes on a nice rosy color.