Drink

You want this to be a lengthy, detailed entry about the wonderful options you have for drinks at your St. Patrick’s day party, don’t you? Let me give you the short answer.

Beer. It’s a St. Patrick’s day party, after all, so try not to over think the beverage selection.  You will want to include on the bar at least one of the true Irish beers - or stouts.  You are probably familiar with the Holy Trinity of Irish stouts - Guinness, Murphy’s, and Beamish.   All are good stouts, well recognized, and the guests at your party will know the names and appreciate that you’ve gone out of your way to get real Irish beer.  So don’t serve it ice cold!  Stout is meant to be served more at room temperature. 

Some will argue that the better known stouts are a bit diluted over the years from what they were originally meant to be, but this is not the case with the recent American import, O’Hara’s Irish Stout.  This would also make a phenomenal addition to your St. Patrick’s day party bar.

Another popular addition to the bar is going to be an Irish red ale.  There are plenty available in the US, including the red ale produced by Guinness, and listed in the top 5 beers in Ireland - Smithwicks (pronounced Smiddicks). 

If Smithwicks is not available at your local beer distributor or liquor store, you can absolutely substitue with the widely available Killians Red.

Once you have the beer situation under control, you’ll need a drink.  Let’s turn to Irish whiskey, shall we?

The Irish take their whiskey seriously.  The Irish words for whiskey are Uisce beatha - which translates into “water of life”.  If that’s not serious, I don’t know what is.  You’ll be most familiar with Old Bushmills and Jameson’s Irish whiskey, of course.  Both would be welcome additions to the bar, along with Tullamore Dew - which is perhaps not quite as well known, but would be just as well received.

  Don’t forget the mixers, including the coffee to make Irish coffees with.