mrs. doyle

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXVI) was picked by myself, Frederic of the Cocktail Virgin blog. The theme I chose was "Irish Wake," and it was a tough decision to pick this theme and make it the last. Mixology Monday has been around for 2 months shy of 11 years yielding 116 themed-events. Between lagging enthusiasm for bloggers to host events, low numbers of drink posts, and my waning desire to push the online cocktail party uphill, I had been considering this end for a year or so. Then at the tail end of MxMo 114 as I was trying to enter the roundup post link in December, I discovered that the Mixology Monday Word Press site had lost its log-in module and I was locked out. We did MxMo 115's announcements solely by Twitter and word of mouth, and it just did not feel right without a formal home base. It was a sign.

So for this final theme, the Irish Wake, I elaborated on my choice with the description of, "The Irish wake is a funeral tradition that is a send-off that begins at the time of death until the body is handed over to the church. It is viewed as a crucial part of the grieving process. My first Irish wake was a little over a year ago when Boston barman Ryan McGrale met his untimely demise. While the wake part with the family was sober, the mourning process with the Boston bartenders and the New York City ones who traveled up was most certainly not. Irish whiskey flowed... So what better way to celebrate the life and times of Mixology Monday and its 11 year run as the premiere 'monthly online cocktail party' than with Irish whiskey. For this theme, the approach is two fold. You can go traditional and generate or uncover a cocktail recipe calling for Irish whiskey. Alternatively, you can talk about a personal moment either where Irish whiskey played a role in life or where drinks in general helped the grieving process. Such stories were actually rather cool for MxMo 41 'Vodka is Your Friend,' so there is precedent for that, but it's not like we can break Mixology Monday for future events by straying from the rules."
There is a belief that mixing with Irish whiskey is a sin, and one of my old co-workers summed that idea up with his delicious Jameson cocktail the Sacrilege. I hold no spirit sacred, but I wanted to find a recipe that really highlighted the soft nature of the whiskey. In my search, I happened upon Eryn Reece's 2013 Mrs. Doyle in the Death & Co. Cocktail Book. According to a TimeOut article, Eryn named this after "the kooky old housekeeper from the Irish sitcom Father Ted." Essentially, Mrs. Doyle is an Irish Sour accented by a touch of Swedish Punsch. And for the photo above, I picked the best casket imagery that I could since the drink itself was not morbid in the least.

Mrs. Doyle
• 2 oz Redbreast 12 Year Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
• 1/4 oz Kronan Swedish Punsch
• 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

The Mrs. Doyle proffered lemon and sweet malt aromas with a honey-like note. Next, the lemon and sweet malt continued into the sip, and the swallow gave forth soft whiskey and a hint of tea and rum funk from the Swedish Punsch.

It is strange to type out my final line to my 87th Mixology Monday event that I have participated in, the 10th that I have hosted, and the 52nd under my cat herdsmanship. I would like to thank Paul Clarke for starting the event and for the participants of the 29 events before I started for making it such a welcoming environment, and for everyone who re-inforced the lost art of Roman numerals. And thank you to all the participants who have carried this phenomenon for over a decade. Sláinte!

:: mixology monday announcement ::

MxMo CXVI: Irish Wake

Mixology Monday has had a good run at life. The event first started with Paul Clarke back in April 2006, and he ran it until MxMo 64 in February 2012. My participation started at MxMo 30 in August 2008 after having read along as a spectator for a year or so. As Paul was losing steam, I begged to take over the event instead of letting him bury it. Luckily, he turned over the reins to me, and I led the march from MxMo 65 in September 2012 until this one for a total of 52 events. When I was looking back at the history, I found a thread on the Chanticleer Society where someone was asking about Paul Clarke in the hiatus between February and September 2012; prophetically, I commented in that thread, "Perhaps I am blinded by my own enthusiasm -- I've been contributing to MxMo for 4 years now and would gladly do another 4 years." In the last year or two, my wife often heard me gripe about how hard it was to get hosts as well as a decent number of participants. The last few despite having amazing replies in quality to the theme were shy of the double digits mark or not much above that in quantity. The final moment that set this death knell a-ringing was when the Mixology Monday website locked me out of logging in right before I was about to enter the wrap up post for MxMo 114, and Paul Clarke did not know how to get me FTP access to see if I could remedy this situation. So that prophecy for another 4 years was correct with another 6 months added on.

So it is time for the final theme, the Irish wake. The Irish wake is a funeral tradition that is a send-off that begins at the time of death until the body is handed over to the church. It is viewed as a crucial part of the grieving process. My first Irish wake was a little over a year ago when Boston barman Ryan McGrale met his untimely demise. While the wake part with the family was sober, the mourning process with the Boston bartenders and the New York City ones who traveled up was most certainly not. Irish whiskey flowed. I remember getting home and wondering why my key would not work and I considered sleeping in the garage. Turns out, it was the wrong key on my key ring and it took awhile to figure that out. So what better way to celebrate the life and times of Mixology Monday and its 11 year run as the premiere "monthly online cocktail party" than with Irish whiskey.

For this theme, the approach is two fold. You can go traditional and generate or uncover a cocktail recipe calling for Irish whiskey. Alternatively, you can talk about a personal moment either where  Irish whiskey played a role in life or where drinks in general helped the grieving process. Such stories were actually rather cool for MxMo 41 "Vodka is Your Friend," so there is precedent for that, but it's not like we can break Mixology Monday for future events by straying from the rules.

Here's how to play this one last time:

• Find or concoct a recipe that calls for Irish whiskey. Or share a drinking story about Irish whiskey or the grieving process.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the libation on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum. If it is the story format option, feel free to post a photo or two to make an emotional connection.
• Include in your post the classic MxMo logo or the special Irish wake one above, and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and Cocktail Virgin sites. Actually, you don't need to link back to the deceased MxMo site if you do not want to. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Provide a link to your submission in the comment section here, tweet at @cocktailvirgin, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net with the word "MxMo" somewhere in the subject line.

The due date is Monday night at midnight, February 20th.

Cheers,
Frederic

:: mxmo irish wake wrap up ::

For Mixology Monday 116, I had the tough task to end one of my adopted pets of sorts. It was just as tough and emotional as putting a sick cat to sleep, but was Mixology Monday every really alive? Well, it has been an electronic cocktail party of sorts, but run by real people. And many of those people I have met especially at Tales of the Cocktail and other events besides the handful living in or visiting Boston. For just shy of 11 years, some subset of the cocktail blogosphere has played a role in celebrating drink writing and the monthly theme at hand. I have been active since Mixology Monday 30 back in 2008 after following it for several months in my blog-free existence that all changed when I was invited aboard this blog.

Just like with a sick or aging cat, it's hard to pull the trigger. Participation waned both with posters and people willing to host as bloggers moved on from the not very glamorous or profitable efforts of blogging to becoming professional writers or bartenders or just merely benders of the elbow and not of the finger tips. And some moved on to life style changes such as sobriety (although I have done two alcohol-free posts for MxMo, so that in itself is not a complete excuse). The decline of participation was not enough, just as aging cat has stopped seeking out pets or play time is not enough to signal to the owner that it is time. The final straw was sickness and pain; electronically, it was the Mixology Monday WordPress site losing its log-in module perhaps due to me ignoring the suggested upgrades to the software over the last 4 years. Mixology Monday founder and website host Paul Clarke could not figure out how to help, so I decided that without a homebase that I could update, it was a sign to take Mixology Monday to the vet for the final visit.

Originally, I was just going to let the event die away after MxMo 115 and hope that no one noticed. That seemed like a cowardly approach. Instead, I thought about death. And drinking. And drinking to face another's death and in turn perhaps to face your own. When one of Boston's beloved barmen died all too suddenly a little over a year ago, I was introduced to the Irish Wake. While the family-centered open casket part of the wake was dry, the later gatherings were not. It was all so foreign to me since it was my first open casket given my family traditions for doing closed ones. Moreover, it was the first one that centered around booze for it brought people from many cities together that were united by drink and service of drink.

To get to the participants who wanted to send this event out in style, there was Pete of MeticulousMixing who formed his blog one day before his first Mixology Monday submission. Besides sharing his thoughts such as "For me, Mixology Monday was a great way to introduce myself and this blog to the public and the rest of the cocktail community. My social media footprint is rather small as I don't really like hanging out on Facebook, etc. But this format of monthly challenges was a great way to share my love for cocktails, while getting to know other cocktail blogs and enthusiasts," he mixed up a Jameson and tea based drink, the Golden Sunset. Katie of the GarnishBlog shed a tear with "I'm really glad I got to participate in so many of these events and even host one last month. It's been fun, inspiring, and a great way to connect with other cocktail nerds" and offered up an Irish whisky, coffee, and allspice number called Wake the Dead.

Gary of Doc Elliot's Mixology mused "Slán, in Gaelic, roughly translates to 'goodbye'. That is the theme for this month's Mixology Monday. It's over. It's done. Kaput. So now is goodby to the World's Best Online Cocktail Party. Hosted by our leader and fearless cat herder, Frederic Yarm of the Cocktail Virgin Slut blog, the actual theme for the final Mixology Monday is the Irish Wake. A most appropriate way to say, 'Slán'" and he matched the concept with a shooter named after that Gaelic word with Irish whiskey spiffed up with coffee, blood orange, and Fernet flavors. I was fourth in line to view the corpse and I added, "I would like to thank Paul Clarke for starting the event and for the participants of the 29 events before I started for making it such a welcoming environment, and for everyone who re-enforced the lost art of Roman numerals. And thank you to all the participants who have carried this phenomenon for over a decade. Sláinte!" before adding a recipe for Eryn Reece's Mrs. Doyle, an Irish whiskey Sour spiced with a hint of Swedish punsch.

Shaun and Christa of the BoozeNerds also began participating in MxMo early on in their blogging careers but have recently started to slow down with the posts; they provided the explanation of "As we ourselves are taking a break because the blog was starting to 'feel like work', we felt we should return to help send off this tradition that was our second post for the blog. After 4+ years of almost weekly posts, we felt we needed a break as we were struggling with what to write about and what to do. So we've stopped for awhile to gather our thoughts and reinvigorate our muses. However, MxMo has been an integral part of our own booze blog journey so we had to say goodbye in our own special way" before providing two recipes, one of which is dubbed One More Before You Go. Andrew of the HumbleGarnish blog broke his Mixology Monday lurking with a post -- his first and last one for the event; he concocted the Final Phrasing -- an Irish whiskey Sour embittered by Fernet and Campari to remind him of a friend he lost who made him think about Ferrari (Fernet-Campari) shots.

DJ of the SpiritedRemix blog shared "Mixology Monday was one of the exciting regular events that got me into creating this blog in the first place. In my opinion, its monthly themes have always been sharp enough to spur inspiration and creativity to share new ideas and spread already established ones" before relating how drinking with his relatives helped sooth the passing of a grandparent. The final Mixology Monday also woke ColonelTiki up from his blogging slumber and felt all guilty with "Forgive me Mixology Monday for I have sinned. It has been many years since my last post and your wake brings me back. You were a fantastic host. We wake you with ourselves woke – in some areas sleeping and others wide eyed to meet our challenges" before presenting his Irish coffee riff, Don't Wake Me While I'm Sleeping.

Kafka Latte of KitchenShamanism took things in a Irish whiskey Tiki direction with a riff of the Nui Nui called Death in the North Atlantic. Next, Mike of DrinksBurgh also went Tiki with a riff on the Mai Kai's Black Magic with his own Irish Magic.

Adam of MrMuddle raises a glass of his Primus tribute, O'Malley's Alley, with a cheers of "So let's raise a glass to a tradition that is ending too soon. But in true Irish Wake fashion, we know it can never truly die. Its legacy will live on in the archives, Instagrams, tweets, and new cocktails inspired by previous MxMo events. Thanks again to Frederic for keeping it going for this long, and to all who contributed over the years." Dagreb of NihilUtopia joined in one last time with the Irish Derby that balanced the whiskey and citrus with Byrrh and Cointreau.

Michael Dietsch of ADashOfBitters was there from the beginning, MxMo 1: Pastis, and could not let it go without adding in a final message. "Nearly 11 years ago, Paul Clarke — now editor of Imbibe magazine, but then just a guy in Seattle — came up with an idea called Mixology Monday... Paul came up with the idea of hosting a themed round-robin for the then-nascent cocktail-blog community. Back in 2006, there weren't many of us... I've been fascinated to watch my fellow drinks-scribes over these many years since MxMo launched. Some of us have gone on to literary achievements, writing for magazines, newspapers, and web sites. We've even seen a few book deals come out of this pursuit. Some among us have left pundit circles altogether and become bartenders or even bar owners. I know people all over the country who have tended bar for the first time after writing about cocktails on the Internrdz... I haven't participated in Mixology Monday in ... oh, hell, nearly six years. But the theme of this month's Mixology Monday is Irish whiskey, and the Irish wake, the mourning process for seeing loved ones depart these flawed bodies" before toasting Mixology Monday as a great friend.

The Muse of Doom of FeuDeVie mused "And yet, as the old maxim goes, 'those who burn brightest also burn shortest.' So many of those young guns faded before too long. Cocktail blogging is a difficult enough endeavor, even if one has a plan to balance recipe development and output with moderation and self-care. And, alas, we (and our livers) all do get older and life does have a way of getting in the way... The Cocktail Renaissance moment has passed; it's mellowed and in the process of maturation. There's still plenty of room for new recipes and ideas, but, man, would I love to see everyone's recipes get some re-love and appreciation rather than be lost to the ether. For all the joy and fire shared during the best of times, as MxMo rests I do hope our fellowship continues" before offering us the comfort food-drink of the Cinnamon Toast Old Fashioned.

BarinaCraft got historical with a scholastic analysis of 6 recipes for the Irish Cocktail with recipe #3 being my go-to. Though without a blog (he lost it by not watching his renewal dates), Gabe of CocktailNerd left a comment of "Cheers to you and Paul, Fred. Were I to have a blog untainted and co-opted by e-cigarettes, I would gladly have given this a final whirl. I met fabulous people and made amazing memories through this hobby and community so thanks again for being a part of that and keeping MxMo and the community going; it's wonderful." In ending Mixology Monday, I did think of Gabe and the others who helped to found Mixoloseum which I participated in their weekly Thursday Drink Night chatrooms that really taught me volumes about drink creation, trusting my intuitions, and knowing when to cherish and when to sink a recipe. Unfortunately, that came to its demise circa late 2012. So let us all raise a glass to the CocktailNerd blog and Mixoloseum and their fine histories back in the glory days of cocktail blogging!

It wouldn't be a true Mixology Monday without someone being late or not following the rules. For the latter, in my RSS feed, I discovered that Doug of the PeguBlog had either forgotten to alert me of his post or his alert is still making its way over as a message-in-a-bottle since he is hardcore in celebrating February as his Tiki month. Had I not stepped in to take over Mixology Monday in September of 2012, Doug's Tiki-themed Mixology Monday in February of 2012 would have been the last. I am glad I found this post and it got me emotional and teary eyed to read his tribute. Doug declared "To battle the dangers of obscurity, blogs would gather periodically in herds called 'blog carnivals', where related sites would post simultaneously on a specified subject, and link each other to draw traffic to all. In the cocktail world, the great stallion Paul Clarke summoned the herd known as Mixology Monday. After many years, Paul was no longer able to lead the herd, and Fred Yarm, the hardest working blogger in cocktails, took up the mantle and MxMo lived on. But in the fullness of time, MxMo at last dwindled. The original participants faded or were lost, and the new generations found that with tools of social media, they hardly needed the nurture and safety of the blog carnival. Now at last, the time has come to say goodbye to Mixology Monday." In not breaking theme, Doug offers up the Irish Privateer that matches the Irish whiskey and citrus with orgeat and ginger liqueur.

And of course, for the former of being late, it is the guys from Scofflaw'sDen! Marshall and Sean-Mike were two that I followed back when they, like me, wrote on LiveJournal before moving over to a blog. The two got together armed with a different bottle of Irish whiskey in each of their hands including one aptly called Writer's Tears. With Averna, orgeat, and lemon in the mix, their Irish Goodbye drink was anything but that (since plenty of MxMo veterans have dropped away without notice).

And it wouldn't be a Mixology Monday without an after the post went live late, here starring Joel from SouthernAsh. Besides presenting a rum-Irish whiskey Old Fashioned, Joel praised the event by declaring, "Mixology Monday has made me a better cocktalian, a better blogger, and a better person. The themes were often challenging and asked me to stretch from my comfort zone. I read, researched, experimented, and sampled more cocktails and variations than I can recall on account of the calls for drinks in this party. I learned to better balance my cocktails through trial and error, improved my presentation and photography from the inspiration provided from the fellow participants, and enjoyed getting to take part in this corner of the cocktail culture revival." Cheers, Joel!

Pardon me if I quoted from your blogs a bit too hardcore, but I wanted a record of some of the words spoken in case your blogs go the way of the Dodo a few years from now. It is February 22nd, 2017, and I, fortified by coffee, am ready to lower this coffin into the grave. With regrets, but that is life. Cheers to all who have joined Mixology Monday on its journey and it's desire to unite cocktail writers near and far. Cheers to Paul Clarke for bringing life to the concept. And thanks to everyone who took the time to host and/or write to keep the beast alive.

Post-note: Please read MxMo founder Paul Clarke's thoughts in the comment section of this post. 

irish wolfhound

1 1/2 oz Irish Whiskey (Knappogue Castle 1995)
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
3 drop Rosewater (Mustapha's)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a candied grapefruit peel (omitted; I garnished with an additional drop of rosewater).

Last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, and instead of joining the throngs of people to celebrate, I stayed in and fixed an Irish whiskey cocktail I had been eying for a while. The drink was the Irish Wolfhound that was created by Josey Packard and later published in LUPEC Boston's Little Black Book of Cocktails. With the combination of grapefruit juice and Maraschino liqueur, like in the Weekly Special and Seventh Heaven, I knew that drink could not fail.
The rosewater paid off in the nose where it joined the grapefruit and Irish whiskey aromas. While the sip was a slightly tart grapefruit flavor, the swallow was rather gentle with a light Irish whiskey taste accented by hints of Maraschino. Of all the combinations, I was surprised at how complementary of flavors the grapefruit juice and Irish whiskey were. Moreover, I was impressed at how mellow and smooth the Irish Wolfhound was especially for a whiskey drink.

irish mermaid

1 3/4 oz Irish Whiskey (Knappogue Castle 1995)
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1/2 oz Aperol
1/4 oz Orgeat (BG Reynolds)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist and a cherry (either a black brandied one reduced with Cherry Heering or a Luxardo Maraschino one).

On Wednesday last week, I decided to make Max La Rocca's Irish Mermaid that he created at Barcelona's Ohla Hotel bar. While the Irish part was understandable from the spirit choice, Max explained the curious part of the name as a "homage to the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen which is where Cherry Heering liqueur comes from." The mermaid was sculpted in 1913 in honor of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and it soon became an iconic landmark in the city.
The Irish Mermaid greeted the nose with orange oils and Irish whiskey's soft malt notes. The Aperol combined with elements of the cherry liqueur to conjure an almost sweet vermouth like flavor on the sip. Next, the swallow began with the Irish whiskey followed by a delightful pairing of cherry and almond along with lingering spice notes. I was impressed at how well such a small amount of orgeat stood out in the drink perhaps due to being mixed with such a soft spirit.

irish cocktail

1 wine glass Irish Whiskey (2 oz Teeling's Small Batch)
1 dash Maraschino Liqueur (1/4 oz Maraska)
1 dash Curaçao (1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry)
2-3 dash Absinthe (1 scant bsp Butterfly)
2 dash Boker's Bitters (Bitter Truth's Jerry Thomas Decanter)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive (omit) and lemon oil (lemon twist).

Two Thursdays ago, I finished making my way through Harry Johnson's 1882 Bartender's Manual (a 1934 reprint) mostly to read his century-plus truisms and advice about running a bar. In the recipe section which I had studied in the past, I had found a few drinks that I had missed in the past including the Irish Cocktail. Overall, the Irish Cocktail reminded me of a Fancy crossed with an Improved Irish Whiskey Old Fashioned.
The Irish Cocktail gave forth lemon, absinthe, and soft whiskey notes to the nose. Next, the malt continued on into the sip where it mingled with the Maraschino's cherry, and the swallow offered Irish whiskey and hints of orange and nutty cherry flavors with an absinthe and spice finish.

irish magic

2 oz Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
1 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Coffee Liqueur (Kahlua)
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and fill with crushed ice. I garnished with freshly grated nutmeg and coffee bean.

The other recipe that I had spotted in my wrap-up post for Mixology Monday's Irish Wake was the Irish Magic. Like the Death in the North Atlantic, this was another Irish whiskey Tiki drink; here, it was a riff on the Mai-Kai's Black Magic that created by Mike Basista on his DrinksBurgh site.
The Irish Magic conjured up coffee, woody spice, and allspice aromas to the nose. Next, lime, grapefruit, and coffee roast on the sip transformed into Irish whiskey, allspice, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow.

belfast fix

2 oz Irish Whiskey (Knappogue Castle 1995)
3/4 oz Irish Breakfast Tea Syrup (1:1) (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lemon twist and add a straw.
(*) Since Irish Breakfast Tea is often Assam mixed with other black teas, using Assam or a regular black tea will work in a pinch. Make the syrup with an equal part of hot tea and sugar; stir until dissolved and then cool.
For Thursday Drink Night on Mixoloseum yesterday, the theme was "Irish" in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day on Saturday. I am jumping out of chronological order and posting this one now just in case people wanted to try it tomorrow for the holiday. The event's instructions were to craft recipes using one or more Irish ingredients, and I opted for Irish whiskey and breakfast tea and formulated them into a classic Fix. The drink that I dubbed the Belfast Fix began with a lemon oil aroma that contained wafts of the whiskey. The sweet malty and lemon sip pleasantly gave way to black tea and whiskey notes on the swallow.

mother of exiles

1 oz Rittenhouse Bonded Rye
1 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey (Teeling's Small Batch)
3/4 oz Meletti Amaro
1/4 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist and a cherry.

In my search to find enough Meletti recipes to make the purchase worthwhile, one recipe that kept popping up in Redbook and other sites was the Mother of Exiles by Nick Bennett. Nick crafted this tribute to a 1880s poem that helped raise money for the Statue of Liberty at Porchlight in New York City. That poem was the sonnet "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus; while the lines "Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore" became infamous, the previous stanza declared, "A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame/Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name/MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand/Glows world-wide welcome". Perhaps the combination of ingredients here represents the Scottish, Irish, Italian, and Spanish settlers in this country (Scottish and Irish settled in Pennsylvania and were the driving force behind rye whiskey distillation). A similar assemblage was crafted by Brother Cleve in his Union Cocktail to represent the immigrants to Somerville, MA, with Irish whiskey and Meletti Amaro being overlapping ingredients.
The Mother of Exiles greeted the nose with orange, caramel, vanilla, and floral aromas. Next, the amaro's caramel continued on into the sip, and the swallow followed things up with rye, softer Irish whiskey notes, nutty, violet, and bitter herbal flavors.

north end

2 oz Slieve Foy 8 Year Old Irish Single Malt Whiskey
1/2 oz Aperol
1/4 oz Amaro del Capo
2 dash Boker's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

My second drink at Stoddard's was the North End that appeared like an intriguing Manhattan variation. Since the drink is named after a Boston neighborhood, perhaps grouping it with the Fort Point, Neighborhood Nine, and the Cambridgeport would be more accurate. One of the things that I was curious about was the "El Capo" on the ingredients list (especially since a Google search on my phone turned up an El Capo Tequila which seemed like an odd thing to pair with a good Irish whiskey). Therefore, bartender Eric Cross showed me the bottle of this amaro and poured me a taste. It possessed a rather caramel sip with mint family notes on the swallow. F. Paul Pacult described El Capo as having "intense, earthy notes of fresh herb and quinine, backed by a strong minerality and a hint of cola nut." Since the North End of Boston is the Italian section of town, it explained the two Italian liqueurs in the recipe; however, why Irish whiskey? Well, the North End during the 19th century was a stronghold for the Irish community especially when the potato famine brought a large number of immigrants to the city.
The North End greeted me with an orange oil and Irish whiskey aroma. The sip contained a semi-sweet malt flavor with light fruit notes from the Aperol. As the North End warmed up, the sip became more richly caramel. The swallow showcased the Amaro del Capo, especially its mint-like flavors, which helped to dry out the drink. Overall, I would characterize the North End more as a cousin to the Toronto than as a Manhattan proper.

irish rover

1 1/2 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey
5 drop Liquid Smoke
2 dash Fee's Black Walnut Bitters

Build in a Highball glass. Top with ~10 oz Berkshire Brewing Company Coffee Porter.
A few Wednesdays ago, we paid a visit to Trina's Starlite Lounge for dinner. For a drink, I asked bartender Patrick Gaggiano for the Irish Rover, a new beer cocktail on their list. The name is most like a reference to an Irish folk song about a great sailing ship that meets its doom, and the song has been covered by the likes of the Dropkick Murphys and the Pogues. In cocktail form, the beer's roasted malt notes filled the aroma and continued on into the sip along with the carbonation. Next, the swallow began with the Irish whiskey, coffee, and walnut flavors and ended with a smoke finish. In a way, it was the tall version of the Breakfast I had two nights before.

more irish than catholic

1 1/2 oz Dubliner Irish Whiskey (Jameson)
3/4 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/4 oz St. George Pear Brandy (Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear) (*)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange twist.
(*) This is most likely St. George's pear eau de vie and not their spiced pear liqueur. Rothman & Winter Pear Liqueur contains a pear eau de vie at its base and was my closest match.Two Thursdays ago, I ventured back to the set of online recipe flashcards for The Violet Hour in Chicago. From their Spring 2022 menu, I selected the More Irish Than Catholic especially since my bottle of Amaro Ramazzotti was still in the front of the shelf from making the Imagine Sisyphus Happy the night before; the bar put this drink on their Instagram in May 2022. Once stirred and strained, the More Irish Than Catholic showcased an orange and root beer bouquet. Next, a caramel-driven sip flowed into whiskey, root beer, pear, orange, and anise flavors on the swallow.

birdman

2 oz Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig (paper umbrella).
Two Fridays ago, I spotted a drink on Bartender at Large's Instagram for Erick Castro's Birdman as a riff on Don the Beachcomber's Q.B. Cooler. With Irish whiskey as the base spirit, it made for a great hat trick of Irish Tiki for January's Tiki the Snow Away along with the Death in the North Atlantic and the Irish Magic. The Birdman began with a citrus, honey, and clove aroma since I lacked a mint sprig as garnish. Next, lime, grapefruit, and honey mingled on the sip, and the swallow flew in with whiskey, honey, ginger, and clove flavors.

teeling tiki break

2 oz Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
1 oz House Coffee Cordial (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Giffard Crème de Banane

Shake with ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wheel, a fresh banana slice, and grated coffee bean.
(*) The drink was not sweet so perhaps a low sugar coffee liqueur like Copper & Kings Distillare Café or a 3/4 oz cold brew coffee + 1/4 oz simple or rich simple syrup combination (or 2/3 oz cold brew coffee + 1/3 oz Kahlua or similar).
While we were drinking the Up in Smoke at the Teeling Irish Whiskey event at Backbar, Andrea was curious about the Tiki drink on the menu especially after spying the finished product when others ordered it. So after distiller Alex Chasko spoke, the Backbar bartenders started serving again, and I requested the Teeling Tiki Break. Once prepared, the Irish-tropical libation met the nose with banana and coffee aromas. Next, lime and roast notes on the sip stepped back into Irish whiskey, banana, and coffee flavors on the swallow. No great surprises here given the ingredient list, but it was quite a delight to drink.

lower west side

1 3/4 oz Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/2 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 pinch Sea Salt (4 drop 20% Saline)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a cherry. Two Sundays ago, I found a recipe by Kenneth McCoy at Ward III in New York City in a 2019 Imbibe Magazine article called the Lower West Side. Historically, the Lower West Side of Manhattan was a major center for Irish immigrants that intensified with the famine in Ireland during the 1840s-50s, and many found work on the nearby docks as longshoremen and congregated around waterfront taverns in the area. The combination of Irish whiskey and Lustau's cream sherry reminds me of Eastern Standard-related recipes like the Goonight Irene at the Hawthorne and Velveteen at Equal Measure. In the glass, the Lower West Side channeled a grape, nutty red cherry, and clove aroma to the nose. Next, grape and plum notes on the sip transformed into soft whiskey, oxidized nuttiness, and herbal flavors on the swalllow. Overall, the soft Irish whiskey gently blended into the background giving the sherry, vermouths, and bitters a much larger stage than in a classic rye Manhattan.

chauncey olcott

3/4 Bush Mills Irish Whiskey (2 oz Teeling Small Batch)
2 dash Sherry (1/2 oz Lustau Oloroso)
2 dash Sweet Vermouth (1/2 oz Alessio)
1 dash Boker's or Angostura Bitters (2 dash Angostura)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

After my bar shift two Saturdays ago, I reached for my copy of Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 for some spirituous refreshment. In the European whiskey section, I spotted an Irish whiskey Manhattan that included sherry in with the sweet vermouth. That recipe was called the Chauncey Olcott, and I was lured in when I learned that Chauncey was an American stage actor and songwriter of Irish descent who lived from 1858-1932. While he was later inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, having a drink named after you is an awesome way to cap off a life and a career.
The Chauncey Olcott had Irish eyes smiling when it greeted the senses with soft malt aromas coupled with grape from the vermouth and sherry. Next, the grape continued on into the sip where it was followed by whiskey, nutty, and bitter herbal notes on the swallow.

endor porg

1 1/2 oz Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Martini Bitter
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with Angostura Bitters (added after the photo was taken).
Two Wednesdays ago, I spotted an interesting Star Wars-themed Jungle Bird riff called the Endor Porg created by Backbar alumni Matt Conner. Matt is now Boston's Teeling Irish Whiskey brand ambassador, and I was excited to give this one a try given the previous successes with Irish whiskey Tiki such as the Birdman, Irish Magic, and Death in the North Atlantic. Once prepared, the Endor Porg flapped in with bitter orange, pineapple, and clove aromas. Next, a creamy lime and pineapple sip gave way to a whiskey, pineapple and bitter swallow with a peachy tangerine finish.

weeski

2 oz John Powers Irish Whiskey
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 bsp Combier Triple Sec
2 dash Fee's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

For my second drink at Green Street on Sunday night, I asked bartender Derric Crothers to make me the Weeski. The recipe, which lurks in their recipe book (a larger resource than the A-to-Z list), was created by David Wondrich and published in his 2005 Killer Cocktails book. Wondrich improvised the drink when he was entertaining and wanted to make Manhattans for his guests. Using what was left in the liquor cabinet at the time, the Weeski was born. While St. Patrick's Day was on Thursday a few days before, most of Boston actually celebrates it on Sunday especially with the parade in South Boston (even the Star Wars costumer legion marches). Therefore, it felt apropos to order the Weeski and it made for a good bookend with the Irish Wolfhound I had on Thursday.
The lemon twist dominated the Weeski's aroma and dwarfed the Irish whiskey notes. On the tongue, the sip was a mix of citrus notes and the whiskey's malt, and the swallow was a combination of the whiskey and orange flavors. Overall, the Weeski was a very light and easy to drink Manhattan variation, and the Lillet, triple sec, and bitters had the right potency to balance the often overwhelmed Irish whiskey.

blackthorn

1/2 Irish Whiskey (1 oz Knappogue Castle)
1/2 Dry Vermouth (1 oz Dolin)
3 dash Absinthe (1 barspoon Pernod Absinthe)
3 dash Angostura

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
A few nights ago, it was time to make good use of the bottle of Irish whiskey we bought in New Hampshire by making the Blackthorn off of the Anvil's 100 Drink list. The recipe, which we found in the Savoy Cocktail Book, also gave us a good excuse to try our media sample of Pernod Absinthe. All of the ingredients were pale yellows and greens which gave me the impression that the drink was going to be light in color. However, after the 3 dashes of Angostura bitters, the liquid in the mixing glass turned orangey red. Moreover, once the drink was poured, the milkiness from the absinthe louche was evident. The color reminded Andrea of sloe gin which I found interesting since 3 of the 5 Blackthorn recipes in Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them contained sloe gin instead of whiskey (the last one was a gin drink which would be a similar hue from its Dubonnet content). The Irish whiskey-based drink we made had an anise nose and a rather dry balance. There were malt and dry vermouth notes on the front of the sip followed by absinthe and bitters flavors on the swallow. In essence, the drink was a dry Manhattan with a bit of absinthe. I felt that the subtle flavors of the Irish whiskey were a little lost in the mix as compared to Bourbon or rye in similar recipes, although its maltiness did shine through.

tipperary

For an afternoon talk at Thirst Boston two Saturdays ago, I joined in on Brother Cleve's Walking Tour of Boston. There was certainly a lot of history packed into this hike, and a lot of insight of what it was like turning 18 -- the legal drinking age in Cleve's youth -- way back when. Cleve did reveal that his first drink in a bar came back at age 16, but places were not as strict as they once were. The tour included places of old (and some still existent) jazz clubs, gay bars, dives, punk rock venues, mob hit sites, Tiki bars (note: multiple!), cruising venues, movie theaters, and more. Such a wealth of lore about a Boston that once was. And in some cases still is. Sometimes, you could see how the front of a Chinese restaurant used to be the grand marquee of a movie theater, and other times the location was razed to put a tower in like some of the seedier strip clubs on Lagrange Street. In the photo below, Cleve was giving the history of the street but the only two baudy places still in existence there were on the side that was not leveled. The Glass Slipper was on that now defunct side before being moved across the street, and we were all amused by the sign that read, "The Glass Slipper where every gentleman is a VIP..."
Earlier, we passed by the plaque that told the history of the Cocoanut Grove Club that burned down in one of the largest nightclub fires in 1942. Up the street was the brick barn-like front to the old Napoleon's where older men sang show tunes at the piano bar and where younger men searched for their sugar daddies; Judy Garland spent her last days there in 1969 drinking her way away. Up the street is the city's oldest gay bar, Jacque's, that opened in 1938 before it turned into more of a female impersonator club in the 1940s until present day. Places that were also razed included Herbie's Ramrod Room, a leather bar that moved to the Fenway area, and the Hillbilly Ranch, a rough Honky Tonk that luckily never reopened elsewhere in the city. The lost Tiki establishments included the South Seas on Harrison Street that lasted from the 1960s until the 1980s, Bob Lee's Islander that lasted during that same era and sported a psychedelic interior, and a Trader Vic's that was in the old Hilton Hotel that became the current Park Plaza.
1 1/2 oz Writer's Tears Irish Whiskey
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (Cleve prefers Cinzano though)
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.

The final stop was at Explorateur in Boston that used to house a Masonic lodge at the edge of what was once the Combat Zone. There we partook of one of Cleve's favorite Irish whiskey drinks, the Tipperary, that honored the tour's sponsor, Writer's Tears Whiskey. The Tipperary originally appeared in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks as an equal parts drink sans garnish that was the Irish whiskey take on the gin Bijou from Harry Johnson's 1882 New and Improved Bartender's Manual. Here, Cleve dried out the drink by bringing the whiskey forward into a 2:1:1 ratio instead of the classic's 1:1:1, and he added an orange twist. No great surprises here with the Irish whiskey forming the backbone to the sweet vermouth's richness and the Green Chartreuse's herbal notes.