Incredible St. Patrick’s Day drinks: Check out these fantastic cocktail recipes

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday for imbibers. Whether you gravitate toward spirits or beer, there’s a St. Patrick’s Day drink or riff for you to enjoy as America pours celebratory dye into its rivers and dons every article of green clothing it has. (There’s even Irish wine, if you feel so inclined.)

Here, we’re focused on mixed drinks, ones that flex some Irish flair or are at least inspired by the land of rolling green hills and shamrocks — the kind of drink you can clutch triumphantly in hand as you observe a holiday more than 1,000 years old. We won’t quiz you on who St. Patrick was, nor will we check your plate to make sure you’re eating traditional Irish bacon and cabbage (though you probably should). We just want to give you another excuse to celebrate.

So, as you ready your at-home bar and throw a stout or two in the fridge for good measure, consider these ten drinks for a festive celebration.

Ray Donovan recipe

(Created at Trina’s Starlite Lounge, Somerville, Massachusetts)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounce Egan’s Irish Whiskey (Vintage Grain)
• 3/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
• 2 dashes black walnut bitters

Method:

1. Build in a Collins glass and top with Harpoon Stout.

Psycho Killer recipe

(Created by The Dead Rabbit, New York City)

Ingredients:

• 2 dashes Absinthe Verte
• 3/4 ounce Campari
• 1/2 ounce Giffard White Crème de Cacao
• 1/2 ounce Giffard Banane du Brésil liqueur
• 2 ounces Redbreast 12-Year Irish Whiskey (or Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey)

Method:

1. Stir all ingredients in a whiskey glass with large ice block and enjoy.

Gunpowder of Middle Earth recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounce Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
• 1/2 fresh kiwi peeled and cubed (can use 1.25 oz kiwi puree instead)
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and muddle to create flavor.
2. Add ice to vessel and toss.
3. Double strain into coupe glass.
4. Garnish with a slice of kiwi.

Blackthorn recipe

(Created by Lee Zaremba, Lazy Bird, Chicago)

Ingredients:

• 2 ounce Irish whiskey
• 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
• 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 dash absinthe

Method:

1. Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into a glass filled with fresh ice, and garnish.

The Enlightener recipe

(Created at La Brasa, Somerville, Massachusetts)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounce Egan’s Irish Whiskey (Vintage Grain)
• 1 ounce blood orange juice
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Mix and top with crushed ice, garnish with bruleed blood orange circle.

The Declaration recipe

(Created by Ezra Star, Drink, Boston)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounce Irish whiskey
• 1/2 ounce honey simple*
• 3/4 ounce Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
• 1 bar spoon lemon juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura Orange bitters

Method:

1. Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Irish Aitail recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only 
• 2 ounces Jose Cuervo Tradicional Añejo 
• 3/4 ounce caraway-fennel simple syrup 
• Soda water 
• Splash of fresh grapefruit juice

Method:

1. Muddle the thyme.
2. Add the Cuervo Tradicional Añejo and simple syrup and fill shaker with ice.
3. Shake well.
4. Strain into a glass filled with ice.
5. Top with soda water and squeeze of grapefruit juice.
6. Garnish with thyme sprigs and dehydrated grapefruit.

Spice Market recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce vanilla chai tea
• 1 ounce Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
• 1/2 ounce apricot liqueur
• 1 bar spoon of orgeat syrup
• 1 bar spoon of spice syrup

Method:

1. Fill a shaker with ice and add all the ingredients.
2. Shake really well until the shaker is icy.
3. Double strain into a highball and garnish with a hollowed-out passionfruit.

Irish Mule recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Jameson Irish Whiskey
• 4 ounces ginger beer
• 1 lime (freshly squeezed)

Method:

1. Combine ingredients in a copper mug and stir over ice.
2. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Irish Coffee recipe

(Created at The Kerryman, Chicago)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey (Jameson suggested)
• 3 ounces hot coffee
• 1/2 ounce demerara syrup*
• 1 ounce whipped heavy cream

*Demerara syrup: Make with 1:1 ratio of demerara sugar and water.

Method:

1. Fill a 6-ounce Victorian Irish coffee glass or mug with hot water to heat it.
2. Discard the water and add all the ingredients except for the heavy cream.
3. Float the whipped heavy cream on top.
4. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Editors' Recommendations

• Sip on these tasty Irish-style stouts this St. Patrick’s Day
• The 5 best Irish food recipes for a tasty St. Patrick’s Day feast
• Drink these delicious Irish beers on St. Patrick’s Day (and beyond)
• The 10 best sweet treats for your Valentine’s Day celebration
• These creative, indulgent Valentine’s Day breakfast recipes are tasty treats