Swilling and spilling green beer is part of the Saint Patrick’s Day tradition for some folks. There is an alternative if you prefer something other than a cheap lager with green dye. It’s a cocktail named the Tipperary after the town and county in Ireland.
“It does have one green ingredient in it,” Tammy Coxen of Tammy’s Tastings quipped, adding “…the drink itself is not green.”
That green ingredient is Green Chartreuse, a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks. So, how does a French liqueur end up in an Irish cocktail? Usually it’s mixed with an Irish whiskey.
“Obviously we don’t have Irish whiskey in Michigan either, but Long Road Distillers a couple of years ago…made a malt whiskey and they made that malt whiskey in the style of an Irish whiskey,” Coxen explained. It’s hard to find.
Malt whiskey is made from malted barley as opposed to rye whiskey which is made mostly from rye and bourbon whiskey which is made mostly from corn. Scotch whisky is made from all malted barley. Irish whiskey is made from some malted barley and some un-malted barley.
The Tipperary is a variant on the classic cocktail, the Manhattan.
Tipperary
2 oz of Long Road Distillers Malt Whisky
¾ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz Green Chartreuse
lemon for garnish
Put ingredients in a mixing vessel with ice. Stir (30-40 revolutions). Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
