The Emerald

St. Patrick’s Day is a great drinking holiday, especially if you like to drink a lot of Guinness or inexpensive beer that has been dyed green with food coloring. Unlike other holidays, there aren’t a lot of St. Patrick’s Day-specific cocktails that you can enjoy if you feel like skipping the Irish Car Bombs for once. One cocktail I’ll put up for potential consideration is The Emerald. This cocktail is a variation on a Manhattan, made with Irish whiskey instead of rye whiskey.

Irish whiskey is often a bit more mellow than rye whiskey, so you can expect the spice of the spirit to be more refined than you would find in a more traditional Manhattan. As a result, it is a good idea to use a high quality sweet vermouth to bring out the subtle sweetness of the whiskey.
I use both Angostura bitters and orange bitters in my Emerald, though some prefer to use only orange bitters in theirs. The drink is easy to make and easy to drink, just what you need on St Patrick’s Day. For me, it’s also a bonus that the drink isn’t dyed green. That said, I’d still probably recommend it if it were, simply because it is so enjoyable.

Glass: Coupe
Method: Shake

Ingredients:
2 oz. Irish Whiskey
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 dash Orange Bitters

Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all of the ingredients. Shake until chilled and double strain into a coupe. Squeeze an orange or lemon twist over the drink, then rub the peel around the rim of the glass. Drop the twist into the drink before serving.