It’s St. Patrick’s Day. And as is traditional, folks are breaking out the alcohol to drink in celebration. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for those discount gimmicky green beers, there are other options that are classier, better tasting, and still keeping with the heritage. Here are four alcohol options for St. Patrick’s Day.
1 – The Classic: A Guinness
Yeah, we said alternatives to beer. And the rest of the list is. But it’s important that we highlight why THIS beer is still deserving of attention. Those cheap green drinks they serve at bars are pale imitations of the true, classic Irish beer. Guinness is a dark Irish dry stout. It’s high fiber and nutrient rich design manage to make it one of the healthier beers out there, while still having a comparable calorie count to other “light” beers. It has a rich, creamy flavor, pairing well with (what a surprise) Irish creams. If you still want beer and want to keep it Irish, there’s no better choice than a Guinness. (We weren’t paid to say this, we promise)
2 – The Classy: Green Chartreuse
With beers out of the way, how about we focus on the green part? While not exactly Irish, Chartreuse has a naturally green alcohol. This can be taken on the rocks, or mixed into cocktails like Mules, Mojitos, and tonics. This lets you keep the traditional green color without needing to add artificial coloring. It looks super classy. It’s also 110 proof, so you don’t need a lot of it to feel the effects. If you’re planning something a bit more sophisticated, we recommend giving this one a try.
3 – The Spirit: Irish Whiskey
Maybe you want to avoid the frat boy beers but it’s not exactly fancy enough to justify a cocktail. A nice in-between is a straight spirit like whiskey. And if you’re going for that, it should be an Irish Whiskey. While Jameson is the most popular, we’re fond of a nice Green Spot Irish Whiskey. It’s more expensive, but we like the flavor more.
4 – The Energy: Irish Coffee
It’s be almost disrespectful to leave this one out. A simple recipe, just combine the aforementioned Irish Whiskey with a coffee. Some folks like to use an Irish Cream like Bailey’s (it tends to blend better, in our opinion), but a standard Irish whiskey added to standard coffee is perfectly acceptable. Be careful though, adding sugar and caffeine in with alcohol can do real rough things to the human body. It’s great if you need some energy to keep going through a long night. Otherwise, we recommend going easy on this particular combo.
Remember: don’t drink and drive. Drink responsibly. Don’t be stupid. Assuming all that, enjoy yourself.