Thanks to some kind of lame excuse that I couldn’t be bothered to remember, Kaiser Penguin had to relinquish control of Thursday Drink Night this week.? Laughing maniacally, I seized the opportunity to run it with an iron fist in an iron glove, only if by iron you mean “flabby white flesh”, but also to use the week to try the theme of “Irish whiskey”.

If I’m doing shots at a bar, it seems like they’re almost inevitably Jameson’s.? Part of that is that I hang out with my neighbor Conroy a lot and he loves him some Jameson’s (and Redbreast, which I introduced him to).? The other part is that as a shot, it’s a smooth whiskey to drink.? I could drink a ton more of those than I could of, say, Southern Comfort (a shot that almost put paid to your humble narrator last weekend in Pittsburgh when he was trying to get a SoCo shirt for a rather drunk guy in his party) or Jim Beam (which I haven’t been able to stand since I drank a handle of it on a bus ride from Charlottesville to Miami for a bowl game, but that’s a story for another day).

Conroy pointed out to me the other day, however, that there are very few cocktails seem to use the Irish whiskey.? Sure, you have some, a few of which are just variations on drinks using other whiskeys, but I wanted to see what the mixologists on TDN came up with.

We started with one from someone (Will) in my Wednesday night cocktail class, a drink he called the Irish Ambien.

Irish Ambien
1 oz. Irish whiskey
1 oz. vanilla vodka
1 oz. Bailey’s Irish cream
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass

First “real” drink of the night was from jimmyp – and it’ll be after the cut.

Timothy Orange
1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey
1/4 ounce orgeat
1/4 ounce (1/2 ounce if you can handle it) lemon juice
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1 drop absinthe
drop Angostura bitters
Not sure if you’d shake or stir, but I’d say strain.? If it is made with Scotch, call it a “William Orange”.

tiare came up with a few drinks.? The first of which was the “Ruby Red Roses”.? It has a garnish of four roses; I used just a single drop of rosewater to approximate it.

Ruby Red Roses
2 ounces Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce honey syrup
1/2 ounce lemon juice
dash of cherry bitters
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with four red roses on a stick

The next drink up was from mbrownerhamlin.? Matt did a take-off on one of his favorite drinks from Death & Company.

The Knacker’s Conference
1/2 ounce Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce 80 proof rye
1/2 ounce cognac
1/2 ounce bonded apple brandy
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton
2 dashes orange bitters
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake and serve on the rocks.? Garnish with a lemon and orange peel.

Everybody’s favorite simian-themed candy, rhesuspieces00, came up with yet another Irish whiskey drink that initially didn’t have a name.

The Chubby Irishman
2 ounces Jameson’s
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce Maraska maraschino liqueur
1/4 ounce orgeat
1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
dash of Angostura bitters
dash of orange bitters
2 dashes or grapefruit bitters
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Next up was another one of tiare’s cocktails.

Spicy Night
2 ounces Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/2 ounce apple juice
drop of pimento dram
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Garnish with a long deep purple apple peel.

Newcomer to TDN “thebureau” came up with the next one which he called the Fig Jig.? I was annoyed that I hadn’t bought figs earlier in the day when I was tempted.

Fig Jig
2 ounces Irish whiskey
2 fresh figs (or 1 Tbsp fig preserves)
Dash of Angostura
Sprig of thyme
Muddle Angostura, thyme, and figs.? Add Irish whiskey and ice, shake, strain, serve with a flamed lemon peel and grated nutmeg

Rhesuspieces00 came up with the best name for a drink of the night, including when he had to modify it.

The Dublin Skank
2 1/2 ounces Jameson’s
1/2 ounce Lillet Blanc

2 dashes Fee’s whiskey barrel bitters
Stir and pour into a cocktail glass, top with 5 drops of pastis

You can make it reformed by reducing the whiskey to 2 ounces and upping the Lillet to 1 ounce, then adding an additional 5 drops of lemon juice at the end.

Samuraibartender had the next drink but and decided to name it after the French word for “nail”.

Le Clou (or is that La Ongle Rouille?)
3/4 ounce Irish whiskey
3/4 ounce Drambuie
3/4 ounce Lillet Blanc
Stir and garnish with a flamed twist of lemon or orange

After all that Irish whiskey we finally hit a non-Irish whiskey drink.? I’ll post it, but remember, it doesn’t qualify for the contest, but it’s still worth trying.? Oysterschnapps, take it away!

The “Hey Rick” cocktail
1 1/2 ounce apple cider
1 1/2 ounce amber rum (VX)
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce falernum
1/2 ounce St. Elizabeth allspice dram
Do stuff to it, put it in some kind of glass, maybe garnish it with something.

Back to Irish whiskey and back to mbrownerhamlin!

Glendalough Memory
1 1/2 ounces Bushmill’s
1/2 ounce Scarlet Ibis rum
1/2 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce lemon juice
2 dashes orange bitters
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist.

Next up was, as far as I know, the first layered shot in the history of the TDN.? It was courtesy of – me!? I might suggest using less Domaine de Canton and more Castries.

Irish Ex-Pat
bottom layer: 1/2 ounce Castries
middle layer: 1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton
top layer: 1/2 ounce Jameson’s

Another tiare drink came up next, without Irish whiskey in it, because it was for Kaiser Penguin and, unfortunately for me, it didn’t include Veev.

Fresh Morning
2 strawberries
2 lemon wedges
1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce elderflower cordial
1/4 ounce apple juice concentrate
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
Muddle the strawberries and lemon in a tall glass.? Add the rest except for soda and last the crushed ice.? Stir and top with soda.? Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

So tiare, since it was Irish whiskey night, followed it up with an Irish whiskey drink.

Funky Pineapple
2-3 pineapple chunks and a few black peppercorns – muddled in a shaker
2 ounces Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce honey syrup
1/2 ounce lemon juice
Shake, strain, and serve in a double old-fashioned glass.? Garnish with cinnamon dust on ice.? For a plebian version, if you don’t have peppercorns, just use a dusting of ground black pepper (according to oysterschnapps).

Of course, the second place winner of the garnish contest (samuraibartender came in first; check out tiare’s blog for more info) had to come up with a killer cocktail of her own.? Stevi Deter had the Jacobite.

Jacobite
1 1/2 ounce Irish whiskey (Powers)
1/2 ounce yellow Chartreuse
1/2 ounce Calvados
Stir and strain.

Next up was a groundbreaking drink, one that not only didn’t have Irish whiskey in it but used – seriously – buttermilk. I mean – who breaks out the buttermilk on TDN?

Raspy Old Coot
1 ounce dark Jamaican rum
1 ounce bourbon
3/4 ounce Raspberry syrup
1 ounce buttermilk
1/2 ounce Benedictine
3 dashes peach bitters
I’m guessing you shake this one, and strain it, and maybe garnish it with raspberries.

We next got another one from mbrownerhamlin.? It’s not a typo in the name!

Inish Sunrise
1 1/2 ounce Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce orange juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce cane sugar syrup
Dash of Angostura bitters
1 twig of rosemary (stripped leaves)
Muddle rosemary leaves in OJ, lemon, and syrup.? Strain leaves out.? Add to shaker with ice, whiskey, and bitters.? Shake, strain into a glass on the rocks.? Garnish with a dash of paprika.

Back to one of oysterschnapps’ recipes (man, there were a lot this night).

Multinational
1 ounce Irish whiskey
1 ounce St. Germain
1 ounce cream
generous dashes of peach bitters
Like, shake, and stuff.

I came up with an idea, oysterschnapps came up with the implementation.? I’d suggest also trying it with tomato water.

Bloody Frannie
1 ounce Hendrick’s
2 ounces tomato juice
3 dashes celery bitters
dill
Shake and dust with dill.

So, anyways, tiare was sick and not drinking that night, but she kept coming up with drinks.

Taralon Star
1 fig
2 lemon wedges
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces Irish whiskey
dash of rhubarb bitters
Muddle the fig with lemon wedges and simple syrup.? Add the whiskey and bitters.? Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Garnish star anise and a bay leaf.

Soon it came time for my last drink of the night.? “Fomhar”, according to Google, is Irish for “autumn”.

Fomhar Memory Eraser
2 ounces apple cider
1/4 ounce allspice dram
3/4 ounce Apfel Korn
1 ounce Jameson’s
can, bottle, or keg blast of beer (I used Miller Lite)
Pour 2 ounces of apple cider into the bottom of the pint glass.? Fill a shot glass with the allspice dram, Apfel Korn, and Jameson’s.? Drop that into the bottom of the glass.? Fill the rest of the glass with light American beer.? Chug (preferably).

At this point I went to bed and tiare took over.

rumdood finally showed up and came up with a drink.? Despite its name, it has no nicotine in it.

3 Leaf Tobacco
2 ounces Jamesons
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
2 bar spoons simple syrup
2 bar spoons absinthe
1 ounce lemon juice
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist.

Tiare came up with yet another one.

Late Night Cocktail
2 ounces Irish whiskey
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce hibiscus grenadine
Shake and strain into an old fashioned glass with cracked ice.? Top with ginger ale.? Garnish with a lemon twist.

I’m getting tired and I’m busy drinking beer so I don’t know much else what to say from after I went to bed.? achinghead came up with this one.

County Clare
2 ounces whiskey
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce Frangelico
Build over ice, top with soda

So then they talked about some stuff, and rumdood decided on:

The Little Barbados, Barbados Bastard, or Barbados, or maybe Bajan Bastard
2 ounces Mount Gay (XO) rum
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce maraschino
1 bar spoon simple syrup
Stir, strain

Stevi seemed exasperated to get out one last drink:

Rum Bonbon
1 ounce “rum creme stuff I don’t know” – I’m guessing Castries
1/2 ounce creme de cacao
2 ounces dark Jamaican rum
Shake, strain into a cocktail glass.? Dust with nutmeg.

And rhesuspieces00 had to go to bed, too, but came up with one last one:

We’re really beyond names at this point in the night.
1 1/2 ounces juniper-y dry gin (Tanq 10)
1 ounce Plymouth sloe gin
1/2 ounce Kirschwasser
1/2 ounce Cherry Heering
1/2 ounce grapefruit juice
2 dashes orange Angostura bitters
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Good quotes from the night:

cocktailnerd -> 1 out of every 4 SeanMikes go without ice, every day

cocktailnerd -> this place goes dry if i’m not around to make “your mom” jokes

oysterschnapps -> the kitten is looking at me funny while I lick all these ice cubes clean to reuse them
(a minute or two later)
oysterschnapps -> oops, so much for these pants

SeanMike -> I think everyone is getting a bit of a breather after all these cocktails
rhesuspieces00 -> yeah, theyve been coming fast and hard.
oysterschnapps -> no kidding
oysterschnapps -> I guess we had a lot of pent-up irish whisky drinks
SeanMike -> I’ve felt like I’m the star of a cocktail gangbang
SeanMike -> it’s fast and hard and now I’m all sticky
oysterschnapps -> best. mental. image. ever.

oysterschnapps -> no fair halibut slapping unless you’re gonna thaw it first

oysterschnapps -> man, the last two weeks are a clear indication that I need to get some Drambuie and some Lillet Blanc
melamine -> oysters – by the time you get it, they’ll have moved on to benedictine and vya extra dry

melamine -> was the theme today irish whiskey or was that just a coincidence?

oysterschnapps -> If you don’t feel good about mixing with expensive liquors, it just means you need more practice

cocktailnerd -> twitter is a mess…wow
tiare -> twitter looks ridiculous!
cocktailnerd -> people are clicking “stop follwoing” like mad!!! YAYY!!!!

stevideter -> you do not know the Aframomum melegueta?

stevideter -> heck, we got people making drinks with BRIE, why not creme fraiche?

oysterschnapps -> chris, my hairdresser (of all people) recommended celery seed syrup, so I have to one-up her now

oysterschnapps -> “muddle rosemary leaves in OJ”
oysterschnapps -> what have we come to people
samuraibartender -> a wizard did it

stevideter -> damn. i gotta remember to start writing reviews so i can be a BIG SHOT.
DrinkPlanner -> stevi, it’s the one true way to interweb STARDOM

stevideter waves her cane and tells you kids to get off her lawn.
SeanMike -> sorry was just thinking “is this ‘make stevi feel old’ night” suddenly?
rumdood -> Look out! Old Missus Single-E is off her meds again!!!

rumdood -> I love getting phone calls during TDN
rumdood -> “Hello?” “Hey Matt, just calling to…” *shake* *shake *shake* *shake* “…am I interrupting something?”

oysterschnapps -> I have found I can only invent good drinks before noon
oysterschnapps -> after noon I am always too drunk

rumdood -> I didn’t try any of those
rumdood -> Largely because I think you smell kinda funny
rhesuspieces00 -> actually, its not my opus. its good, but it can be improved, i think.
rhesuspieces00 -> man, even over the internet?
rumdood -> You are pretty ripe
rhesuspieces00 -> i can’t help it man. its the glands.

rumdood -> It was sooooo funny watching the group of tikiphiles (TraderTiki, CraigH, KaiserPenguin) all take those strips and look around like, “Is something supposed to happen?”
tiare -> ok, i have to get myself a hat

stevideter -> that’s usually a sign to stop drinking, when you think the liquor is talkin’. just sayin’
rumdood -> What if it’s more “singing”?
stevideter -> well, that’s clearly different.

rumdood -> RP, I’d like to introduce you to a goat that would love to get to know you in a very intimate manner