Move over Green Beer! Green Cocktails & Mocktails For St. Paddy's Day
It's your lucky day. You little leprechauns are going to love these refreshing green drink recipes we have in store for you. From cocktails to mocktails and alcoholic to non, these St. Patrick's Day drink recipes are the way it's done.
Alcoholic Cocktails
Let's start with some green alcoholic drinks that are worthy of this momentous celebration.
Green Beer
Ok wait a sec. Green beer?! Really? Is that all the effort you want to put into your St. Patrick's Day drink? Since you're reading this article, I'm guessing not. After all, St. Paddy's is a day that can pretty much hinge on drinking. It's a drinkers holiday if ever there was one. Not that you must drink to enjoy the festive-ness, but if you choose to land on the side of the drinkers on St. Freaking Paddy's Day, you better bring your A game. Green beer is a... solid C game. At best.In Chicago, they dye the river green to celebrate St. Patty's Day.
If you must, you can celebrate on a smaller scale by dyeing your beer green for this lucky festival! Since this is just food coloring, you can easily customize any other drink (alcoholic or non) to have this Emerald Isle look. Give a non-alcoholic beer a try or even sparkling cider. Serve in big glass mugs or a punch bowl if you're hosting a crowd.But let's move on to some green cocktails worthy of good ol' St. Patrick.
Green Apple Fuzz
This cocktail is as green as a lucky shamrock growing in a field in Ireland. Although green apple isn't typically a flavor associated with this country, the color qualified it for our green St. Patrick's Day cocktails. You can watch the video below to learn how to mix up this fun drink. You'll need cherries, lemons, Smirnoff Ice, and a few more ingredients to achieve this taste and look. Here's a hint: make it more festive for St. Patrick's Day by using leprechaun or Irish flag garnishes!
Green Mar-tea-ni
Green tea is the key ingredient in this verdant cocktail. If you're hosting adults or kids, you can tailor this drink to appeal to both. For the kiddies, just take out the alcohol. For the adults, follow the recipe the tutorial recommends. Again, this cocktail is green, but you could amp up the St. Patrick's Day look by adding green, orange, and white straws, four leaf clover candies to the rim, or even by painting your glassware to look like a wee leprechaun.
Green Giant Cocktail
Giants and leprechauns don't have much in common except they both love green! We're sure you'll love this green libation for St. Patrick's Day parties because it's so fresh and different. Some of the main ingredients are sugar snap peas, tarragon, and gin. It might sound a little peculiar, but trust us, it's a sweet, light, and herbal cocktail your guests will be surprised by-in a good way!
Green Grasshopper Cocktail
Veggies not your style? We have a more traditional mint-chocolate cocktail that's both delicious and St. Patrick's Day appropriate. With some creme de menthe, creme de cocoa, and heavy cream, you'll have a bright green, creamy, minty, and chocolatey cocktail you can pour into a martini glass or serve in shot glasses with orange sugar on the rim. Get your shaker out for this one and get ready to be busy mixing. It's a serious crowd-pleaser.
Green Mint-ini
You'll want to kiss this Irish bartender for giving you such a tasty cocktail to try this year. With vodka, creme de menthe, and peppermint schnapps, you'll dance an Irish jig when you sip on this tasty trio. Prepare these ahead of time and line them up on your bar with St. Patrick's Day clover garland or on a green, white, and orange platter. Whatever you do, this is one potent drink, so serve responsibly!
Green Princess Cocktail
Crown yourself queen of the leprechauns with this kelly green drink recipe. Using green gummy rings and peach liqueur, this drink is light, fruity, and very refreshing. Since March is smack dab between winter and spring, it'll be a welcome wake up call for your taste buds. This is also an easy cocktail to make in bulk and pour into a punch bowl or big mason jar with a spigot-so you won't spend all of your hosting time refreshing your guests' glasses. Here's a hint: soaking the gummies in flavored vodka overnight can enhance the flavor!
Irish Eye-Opener
We named this cocktail the "eye opener" because it's a delicious savory drink that's great for brunch. If you love Bloody Mary's, then this is another savory cocktail you should try. This bartender calls these "Green-Mary's," and they're not far off from the original. With vodka, lemons, limes, yellow tomatoes, tomatillos, avocados, cucumber, and spices, you'll have the beginnings of the makings of this fantastic St. Patrick's Day brunch drink. If you're planning on going to a parade, this is a great way to start the day alongside soda bread or even bangers and mash.
Non-Alcoholic Mocktails
St. Patrick's Day is somewhat notorious for the amount of drinking that goes on, but you don't have to make alcoholic drinks to participate! We found some fabulous green alternatives that will show your Irish spirit-without the spirits.
Green Mojito
This may not be bright green or Irish, but it is a delicious and refreshing non-alcoholic drink for St. Patrick's Day. Mojitos are an all-time favorite and usually feature rum, sugar, lime, and mint. This one uses soda water instead alongside muddled mint to give you an equally as refreshing drink without the alcohol. You could even use limeade for a liquid base too for more flavor. Just don't add extra sugar if you go this route or it'll be too sweet! If you're looking for a drink you can make in a punch bowl to serve to kids or enjoy yourself, give this one a go.
Green Spring Cocktail
This tutorial isn't in English, but it does have subtitles that make it easy to follow along! We couldn't pass it up either because of its bright green hue that makes it ideal for St. Patrick's Day. It's essentially a dyed green lemonade, so if you give up on reading the directions as you go, then just try adding a few drops of green food coloring to lemonade and you'll be half way there. Garnish these drinks with St. Patrick's Day inspired candy, straws, stirrers, or gummies to complete the look.
Honeydew Cooler
This non-alcoholic St. Patrick's Day-inspired drink will match your parade outfit or leprechaun get-up this March. Whip up some of these honeydew coolers with some pureed melon, lime, cucumber, and mint. You could even pop this in an ice cream maker if you want to make it into a slush! It's still a little cold outside for most of the country, but this festive drink will get you excited for warmer days to come and help you fit in with the rest of the holiday's emerald hues!
Kiwi Shots
You don't have to drink whiskey to have a shot of something delicious this St. Patrick's Day. These kiwi shots are green, alcohol free, and delicious. You'll need a blender to puree the kiwi with simple syrup and ice cream, but this is a super quick treat you can make. You could even put it back in the freezer to serve as kiwi ice cream shots if you prefer! Whatever you do, let the luck of the Irish be with you in the kitchen-and by the bar-this year.