Ditch the green beer for one of these snazzy St. Patrick’s Day cocktails

Anthony Vipond

Nothing’s wrong with the occasional shot of whiskey chased by a pint of Guinness—if you’re in college. But now that we’re grownups, it’s time to up the ante when celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, one of Atlanta’s favorite drinking holidays. Fortunately, Anthony Vipond (right), the co-founder and general manager of Whiskey Bird in Virginia-Highland, has you covered. “All of our drinks are classic cocktails or variations on classics. We wanted to do the same with our St. Patrick’s Day cocktails and create fun variations on some of the drinks we currently serve, plus add a couple others,” says Vipond. If you don’t want to make your own St. Paddy’s cocktails, you can always swing by s, but note—you won’t find any green beer at the bar.

DUBLIN JOE

DUBLIN JOE
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ½ oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey
½ oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
½ oz. Demerara syrup
½ oz. freshly brewed coffee
¼ c. unsweetened, lightly whipped cream
½ oz. crème de menthe

In a mug, combine whiskey, Irish cream and syrup. Fill with coffee and stir to combine. Top with unsweetened whipped cream and drizzle with crème de menthe.

“I wanted to come up with an Irish Old Fashioned variation without simply substituting out bourbon for Irish whiskey,” Vipond says. “Making a simple syrup out of the stout is a fun way to add some hints of chocolate and make it a great after-dinner cocktail.”

FASHIONABLY IRISH
Makes 1 cocktail
2.5 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey
.5 oz. stout syrup
1 dash orange bitters
½ tsp. orange zest

In a glass, pour whiskey, stout syrup and orange bitters over ice and stir vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with orange zest.

STOUT SYRUP:
6 oz. Guinness or
Murphy’s Irish stout
6 oz. Demerara sugar

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to medium-high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. You can substitute Sugar in the Raw for Demerara.

GREEN STINGER
Makes 1 cocktail
2 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey
¾ oz. crème de menthe
1 tsp. simple syrup
1 mint sprig

Add whiskey, crème de menthe and simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass with crushed ice and garnish with mint sprig.

IRISH DERBY
Makes 1 cocktail
2 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey
2 oz. grapefruit juice
½ oz. Demerara syrup
Grapefruit peel

In a glass, pour whiskey, grapefruit juice and Demerara syrup over ice, and stir vigorously. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a twist of grapefruit peel

STORY: Lia Picard
PHOTOS: Erik Meadows