Top St. Patrick’s Day Cocktails
2 Min Read By Iden Eliopoulos
The top five St. Patrick’s Day cocktails are a surprising lineup this year, according to our worldwide network of bartenders. This Irish holiday’s flavors may be moving in a new direction. A new up-and-coming cocktail is taking a place on this year's list. Its refreshing flavor is a break from the St. Patrick’s Day classics.
Irish Coffee is at the top of the list, as always. The creamy, slightly peaty coffee beverage has been a classic almost as long as the holiday has been around.
Irish Grasshopper is a similar story. It’s a more dessert-like cocktail than the Irish Coffee, relying more on cream liquor and creme de cacao––a popular substitute for those who don’t fancy coffee cocktails.
Irish Maid is an early sign for St. Patrick’s Day’s new trends. It’s a classic Irish cocktail, just like its peers in the top three. But flavor-wise, it’s closer to the last two on this list. I like to call these final three the trend-setters. They aren’t as popular as the top two. Still, they’re growing in popularity and giving rise to similar, fruity, refreshing green beverages. Irish Maid still uses Irish whiskey but moves into this refresher territory with elderflower liquor and lemon juice.
Eye of the Hurricane is the epitome of this trend-setting. It’s a mixture of white rum, bitter lemon and passion fruit. In South Africa, where it’s growing the most in popularity, it’s becoming the local favorite of tourists, meaning its influence is soon to pop up in the countries they’re from. For Cape Town, that’s the US, UK and Germany. So keep an eye out!
Shamrock Punch is the fruitiest of all the St. Patrick’s Day drinks here. It’s on the rise too, but also already has somewhat of a fan base. This is definitely another drink to keep a lookout for.
These last two drinks pulled my attention. And Eye of the Hurricane’s story was so interesting that I made this week’s syndicated article about it. Read more below about how it’s the future of St. Patrick’s Day and what we can learn from its signature South African ingredients.
