Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2026 With These Cocktails & Sips

Patrick’s Day (March 17) is here, and the parties, bar crawls, and other festivities will be in full swing all day and night. Doing our part, CASSIUS put together a nice collection of clever cocktails that fit the theme of St. Patrick’s Day as best we could.

I want to apologize to all my industry partners for just getting this roundup going today. Life happens, bad weather in my area, and other happenings didn’t allow me the time to get this post going last week. But enough about that, let’s get to the drinks.

As I did last year, I’ll share Britannica’s explanation of St. Patrick’s Day below:

It was emigrants, particularly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick’s Day into a largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants, who often wielded political power, staged the most extensive celebrations, which included elaborate parades. Boston held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, followed by New York City in 1762. Since 1962 Chicago has coloured its river green to mark the holiday. (Although blue was the colour traditionally associated with St. Patrick, green is now commonly connected with the day.) Irish and non-Irish alike commonly participate in the “wearing of the green”—sporting an item of green clothing or a shamrock, the Irish national plant, in the lapel.

I’ve got my eyes on some Irish whiskey tonight, which is a category I’m still getting to know. I also picked up a sixer of Guinesss and Smithwick’s Red Ale that I’ll share with my pals.

In this roundup, I have a couple of bottles, plenty of cocktails, a mocktail or two, and even some THC-boosted options, which is something I normally don’t feature at Spirit.Ed.

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day and be safe doing so.

P.S. I will be updating this post until 7 PM ET today (March 17).

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Photo: Getty

Baby Irish Coffee

Ingredients:
1oz Jameson Original
1oz Kahlúa Dunkin Caramel Swirl Liqueur

Method:
Add ingredients to a shot glass and garnish with whipped cream & caramel drizzle

Belaire Bleu Mimosa

Ingredients:
Luc Belaire Bleu
Fresh squeezed orange or pineapple juice

Method:
Pour Belaire Bleu into a flute or wine glass Top with orange or pineapple juice. *Add a higher ratio of juice to Belaire Bleu for a more vibrant green.

Dew And A Brew — Source: Tullamore D.E.W.

Dew & A Brew

Created by Kevin Pigott, Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey Global Ambassador

INGREDIENTS:
1 part Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey
1 part beer of your choice

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients. Stir and pour.

Drumshanbo Tawny Port Cask Single Pot Still Whiskey (Add Script)

The Shed Distillery produces some of my favorite gins, and they also make Irish whiskey that I’ve yet to try. The brand is putting forth its Tawny Port Cask Single Pot Still Whiskey, and when I get a sip, I’ll be glad to come back and report. I’m already a big fan of what they do on the lighter side.

Learn more here.

Dulce Vida Lucky Lime Margarita

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Dulce Vida Lime Tequila
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
0.5 oz Agave
0.75 oz Naranja Orange Liqueur

Directions: Combine all ingredients and shake, pouring over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Gin Basil Smash

Ingredients:
2.00 oz Boatyard Double Gin
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
0.75 oz Simple Syrup
6-8 Basil Leaves

Directions: Lightly muddle basil leaves in a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients and shake with ice until well chilled. Fine strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a sprig of basil or twist of lime.

Green Eyed Bandit

1.5 oz. Teremana Blanco
½ oz. fresh lime juice
¾ oz. simple syrup
1 oz. fresh kale & cucumber juice (equal parts)
3-4 jalapeño wheels (no seeds)
Glassware: Collins glass
Garnish: Garnish with a cucumber wheel.

Method: Muddle jalapeno wheels (seeds removed) in shaker. Add lime juice, kale & cucumber juice, simple syrup & Teremana Blanco. Shake with ice. Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass.

Green Gimlet

Ingredients:
2 oz Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
0.75 oz Simple Syrup
5-6 Basil Leaves
Garnish: Cucumber Ribbon

Method: Add liquid ingredients and basil into a cocktail shaker and gently muddle to release aromatics. Shaker over ice to chill and fine-strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with cucumber ribbon on a cocktail pick and enjoy!

Green Mary

Ingredients:
1 oz Ketel One Vodka
3.5 oz freshly juiced equal parts of celery and cucumber
.5 oz freshly squeezed lime
1 pinch of rock salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried chili flakes
Garnish: salted cucumber slice

Method:
Add all ingredients to the glass, stir well, add ice. Garnish with a salted cucumber slice.

Guinness Old Fashioned — Source: Factory 380

Guinesss Old Fashioned

Courtesy of Factory 380

2 oz Jameson
½ oz homemade Guinness syrup*
2-3 dashes chocolate bitters
2-3 dashes orange bitters

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Stir and strain over a large ice cube in a glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

*Guinness Syrup
1 can of Guinness
1 cup Demerara sugar
.5 cups caster sugar

Bring to a boil for 8 minutes until sugar has dissolved and the syrup is bubbling and sticky. Let mixture cool and transfer to storage container.

Highland Park Penicillin

Ingredients:
2 oz Highland Park Whisky 12YO
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz honey syrup (2:1 honey  to water)
½ oz ginger syrup
Garnish: candied ginger

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Shake until well-chilled. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish.

High Spirits

I typically only cover cannabis over at the other Men’s Division site, Hip-Hop Wired, but in the spirit of the day, I realize folks out there are into the THC and CBD-boosted seltzers. High Spirits makes a tasty version of the concoction in a variety of doses and flavors, including a 50mg deal. I’ll have to work my way up to that.

Learn more here.

Irish Maid

INGREDIENTS:
2 oz Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
¾ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz St. Germain
2 Cucumber Slices

BUILD:
Muddle cucumbers in tin, add all other ingredients. Shake and fine strain into a Rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a cucumber slice.

Glass: Rocks | Garnish: Cucumber

James Joyce

Ingredients:
0.75 oz Cointreau
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth

How-To:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass.

Leprechaun Punch

Ingredients:
2 parts Blue Chair Bay White Rum
2 parts Midori
1 part Lime Juice
1 part Simple Syrup
1 part Lemon-Lime Soda
Mint, for garnish
Apple, for garnish
Lime, for garnish

Directions: Fill a container with ice. Muddle the mint and simple syrup together. Pour in white rum, midori, lime juice, soda, simple syrup and mint. Cut apples into four-leaf clover shapes and mix into the punch with sliced limes. Enjoy!

1 oz. Kōloa Kaua’i Coconut Rum
1 oz. Kōloa Kaua’i Spice Rum
¼ oz Melon Liqueur
1 oz Blue Curaçao
½ oz Sweet and Sour
½ oz Pineapple Juice

Instructions: Combine ingredients in glass with ice, stir with
bar spoon and top with fresh ice as needed. Garnish with rainbow belt and
whipped cream.

Photographer: Vanessa Palmisano
Mixologist: Jennifer Bryant

Lyre’s Irish Cream

Ingredients
6.76 oz Lyre’s Bourbon Alternative
4.23 oz Light Condensed Milk
4.23 oz Cream
1 oz Espresso
1/2tsp Vanilla Essence
1tsp Chocolate Syrup
Pinch of cinnamon and grated nutmeg

Method
Combine all ingredients and stir, pour over ice

Glass
Rocks Glass

Garnish
Grated Nutmeg

Nights Burn Bright

1.5oz. Dos Hombres Mezcal
1/2oz. Aloe Vera Liquor (Chareau)
1/4oz. Agave Nectar
1oz. Fresh Watermelon Juice
3/4oz. Cucumber Purée
3/4oz. Lime Juice
Garnish: Cucumber slice

Directions: Add all ingredients to your shaker and vigorously shake. Fine strain into a rocks glass. Garnish and enjoy!

Courtesy of Jackdaw NYC

Paul Mezcal

Barspoon of Chareau
.5 oz Dry Vermouth
.75 oz Cucumber Syrup
.75 oz Lime Juice
1.5 oz Mezcal
Cucumber garnish

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake until chilled. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a cucumber.

Rocket Power

2 oz State Line American Gin
Fresh lime juice
Cane sugar syrup
Fresh arugula
A few drops balsamic vinegar

[Note: this is a drink meant to be shaken in a tumbler and served in a rocks glass]

Salted Caramel Cappuccino Martini

Ingredients:
2 parts – Borghetti Espresso Liqueur
2 parts – Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur
2 parts – Vodka
2 dashes – Salted Caramel
1 part – Brown Sugar Syrup

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini or coupe glass and garnish as desired.

Sardinian Lemonade

Ingredients:
2 oz Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin with Sardinian Citrus
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice Ginger beer
Red grapefruit, strawberries and mint for garnish

Directions:
Fill a highball glass with ice. In a shaker, combine gin, lime juice, elderflower liqueur, and simple syrup. Shake well and strain into the glass over the ice. Top with soda water and gently stir. Garnish with red grapefruit and mint.

SEÁN MÓR

Ingredients:
1.75oz Dubliner Bourbon Cask
0.85oz Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Orange Bitters
Garnish: Lemon twist — sharp and fragrant

Method:
Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass over ice. Stir slow, 20 to 30 seconds until ice meets flame. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Express that lemon twist like you mean it, drop it in and let it linger.

Shamrock Sour

INGREDIENTS:
1 oz Tequila
2 oz Hampton Water Rosé (still)
0.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
0.5 oz Agave (or Simple Syrup)
1 Egg White
2 oz Hampton Water Bubbly
Garnish: Lemon Peel, Angostura Bitters

DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients except the Hampton Water Bubbly into a shaker tin with ice and shake. Strain into a highball glass with ice. Top with 2 oz of Hampton Water Bubbly. Note: Cocktail should have a thicker egg cream texture that just begins to flow above the glass, but keeps shape. Garnish with lemon peel on top of glass or 3 dashes of angostura bitters in a pattern.

Spicy Bloody Mary

Ingredients:
1 ½ Parts Absolut Tabasco
5 Parts Tomato Juice
½ Lemon Juice
⅓ Part Worcestershire Sauce
1 Pinch Ground Black Pepper
1 Pinch Salt
1 Lemon Wedge
1 Bunch of Parsely/Celery
Chilies to Garnish
Cajun Spice

Method:
Rim a highball glass with Cajun spice In a shaker, mix Absolut Tabasco, tomato juice, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add ice, shake, and strain into your spiced glass over fresh ice cubes. Garnish with lemon, red chilies, and a bright parsley sprig. Spicy, vibrant, bloody brilliant.

SPICY CENTINELA

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Tequila Centinela Eterno Cristalino
3 slices of fresh cucumber, muddled
.5 oz green apple liqueur
.5 oz serrano chili liqueur
1.5 oz natural soursop juice

Directions: Muddle cucumber in a shaker. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Optional garnish: cucumber slice or fresh chili.

St. Patrick’s Day Stash Box

Ingredients:
1.5 oz ALB Vodka
1 oz Pistachio Liqueuer
1 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
1 tbsp Pistachio Spread

Instructions: Add the ALB Vodka, pistachio liqueur, heavy whipping cream and pistachio spread to a shaker filled with ice. Shake hard until smooth and creamy, then strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Tattersall Functional

Tattersall Functional enters a growing marketplace of adult-use functional beverages that employ lab-tested THC and adaptogens for varying effects. Today, we’re featuring the Uplift expression, which is framed as a “social tonic” packed with CBG, CBD, Lion’s Mane, and Rhodiola Rosea for a synergetic boost to one’s evening. I haven’t checked this one out yet, but I will soon, and I’ll report back.

Learn more here.

The Gilded Shamrock

Ingredients:
1 Cutwater White Russian
2 scoops mint-chip ice cream
0.5 oz of Crème de menthe

Directions:
COMBINE the ice cream, creme de menthe, and Cutwater White Russian in a blender.
BLEND on high until a smooth, consistent shake is formed.
SERVE by pouring into a tall glass and topping with whipped cream and grated mint chocolate.