Happy St Patrick’s day to you all with a Teeling Irish Whiskey cocktail: The Bookseller!

On my way to creating the above cocktail, I read through a bunch of classic Irish Whiskey recipes for inspiration. A couple of them are too good not to post so here they are! I will definitely be making one of them at home today!

Belvedere Cocktail (The Wine and Spirit Bulletin, Louisville 1917)

• 1/2 oz Irish Whiskey
• 1/2 oz Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz Red Vermouth
• 2 to 3 dashes Absinthe

Shake with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass. This cocktail is attributed to the Hotel Belvedere in Baltimore, MD. (source: Martin’s New & Improved Index of Cocktails & Mixed Drinks.)

Black Thorn (Harry Johnson, 1900)

• 1 oz Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz Dry Vermouth
• 3 to 4 dashes of Absinthe
• 3 to 4 dashes of Boker’s Bitters (or Aromatic Bitters)

Stir with cracked ice and strain into a wine glass. (source: Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartender’s Manual.)

Irish Cocktail (Harry Johnson, 1900)

• 2 oz Irish Whiskey
• 2 to 3 dashes Absinthe
• 1 dash Maraschino Liqueur
• 1 dash Orange Curaçao
• 2 dashes Boker’s Bitters (or Aromatic Bitters)
• Garnish: Lemon Peel and an Olive

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Express Lemon Peel and garnish, try it with the Olive. The salt and brine from the Olive will balance out the sweet. (source: Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartender’s Manual.)

Shamrock Cocktail (Hugo Ennslin, 1917)

• 1 oz Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz Dry Vermouth
• 3 dashes Chartreuse Vert
• 3 dashes Crème de Menthe
• Garnish: Olive

Stir over cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with an Olive. (Source: Martin’s New & Improved Index of Cocktails & Mixed Drinks.)

Cool right? I love that back in the early 20th C the answer to balancing out sweetness was to add an Olive garnish. Brilliant. I am really into the Irish Cocktail btw.

Now, back to St Patrick’s Day 2015: I decided to make a Manhattan Variation with Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey and Averna. I knew that I wanted to use Carpano Antica as the vermouth because it goes so well with Averna. Who am I kidding, Carpano Antica goes with everything! I was looking for a finishing touch and a way to bring out all those Rum notes in the Teeling and St Elizabeth Allspice Dram called to me from on top of the fridge*.

The Bookseller

• 2 oz Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
• 1/2 oz Carpano Antica
• 1/4 oz Averna Amaro
• 1 dash St Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• Garnish: Orange peel

Combine ingredients and stir over ice until proper dilution has been achieved. Strain into coupe. Express Orange peel and garnish.