Irish Whiskey Cocktail Class

On Wednesday, October 19^th, we were invited to Kelley’s home to join in on an Irish Whiskey Cocktail making class hosted by Stories & Sips with Stephanie “Finger Guns” Shen, Global Brand Ambassador for Quintessential Brands Group, parent company of the Dublin Liberties Distillery. We previously met Stephanie this past May in Dublin where our group was scheduled to tour Dublin Liberties Distillery on their first weekend open since the pandemic. She is a very animated raconteur (a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way) so we knew that we were going to be in for an entertaining evening.

All the required ingredients were gathered, including a Blended Irish Whiskey, a Single Malt with Bourbon Barrel aging and a pot still with a sherry finish to make the myriad of cocktails planned.

The first cocktail we made was an Old Fashioned. The Old Fashioned made its first appearance in 1806 in print and was described as liquor, sugar, water and bitters.

Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Single Malt Whiskey

• 1/3 oz Maple Syrup

• 3 dashes Angostura Bitters

• Build in an ice filled rocks glass and stir, not shake. Zest oils from orange peel.

Next up was the classic Highball Cocktail. The highball was popular in the 1700’s and typically used brandy. In the mid-19^th century, there was a severe blight that destroyed the vineyards, and the wine industry, so scotch was used as an alternative. Since this was an Irish Whiskey Cocktail class, we used the Pot Still Irish whiskey with a sherry finish. Not much of a recipe as it’s just the whiskey and soda water but one thing to note when making a Highball is to fill the tall glass with ice to the top to slow the dilution, and preserve the flavor, as the ice melts. We used pink grapefruit as the garnish and a sprig of fresh rosemary that really toyed with the olfactory senses. The pink grapefruit complimented the softer Irish Whiskey and it was suggested to use a lemon wedge if you make a scotch highball and a orange wedge for a single grain whiskey.

After the classic highball, we made the “Diveball” which was Stephanie’s Signature Cocktail made with Dead Rabbit blended whiskey and was my favorite of the night.

Diveball

• 1 ½ to 2 oz Dead Rabbit, or other blended Irish Whiskey

• ½ crack or small pinch of sea salt

• 2 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters

• Build in ice-filled glass and top with tonic water, gently stir and garnish with orange slice

We also made a whiskey sour and another Old Fashioned to top off the evening. I preferred this Old Fashioned with the chocolate bitters and cinnamon stick.

Whiskey Sour with either lemon juice or grapefruit juice

• 2 parts whiskey

• 1 part lemon juice or grapefruit juice

• 1 part simple syrup (3/4 part simple syrup if using grapefruit juice)

• Egg White for froth (optional)

Dry shake, without ice, first when using egg white. Then add ice to shaker to chill and strain over ice in a rocks glass or into a stemmed coupe glass.

Old Fashioned Recipe #2 using single malt with PX finish

• 2 oz whiskey

• 1/3 oz simple syrup

• 2 dashes chocolate bitters

• Grapefruit skin “coin” as garnish

Stir over ice and serve with cinnamon stick

Thanks to Stories & Sips and Stephanie for an entertaining as well and educational evening. I am looking forward to experimenting with other whiskey cocktail recipes!