21 Must-Try St. Patrick’s Day Cocktails

You may not want to start every morning with a dollop of whiskey in your coffee, but St. Patrick’s Day is only once a year. Irish coffee took its current form in the 1950s. The enormously popular cocktail mixes sweetened coffee with a generous helping of whiskey. The breakfast of St. Patrick’s Day champions calls for simple ingredients you probably already have in your home. Mix hot coffee, cream, brown sugar, and whiskey, and enjoy!

Try this recipe for a citrusy cocktail with a festive green hue. The Drunk Leprechaun is a variation of a screwdriver containing orange juice and vodka. The color comes from the mixing of blue curaçao into the cocktail. The resulting drink brings a tropical twist to typical St. Patrick’s Day cocktails.

The Irish Sour Apple Cocktail provides a vibrantly fruity option for a more sophisticated palate. This drink combines Jameson Irish Whiskey with sour apple-flavored vodka. An elderflower tonic water mellows and melds the flavors for a strong apple taste with subtle floral notes. Serve over ice with fresh green apple slices as a garnish.

Many beloved St. Patrick’s Day cocktails feature heavy ingredients like Irish cream or Guinness. The Irish Maid provides a lighter alternative without sacrificing flavor or abv. The recipe is relatively simple but a bit more time intensive than others on this list. You’ll need to muddle cucumbers and make a batch of honey simple syrup. Check your liquor cart for Irish whiskey, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice. Cucumbers and honey simple syrup round out the ingredients. The drink balances the smooth whiskey taste with a pleasant floral and citrus burst. 

Impress your friends while showing your Irish pride with the Irish flag shot. The cocktail layers the Emerald Isle’s national colors into a uniquely flavored shot. Creme de menthe provides the green base. Mild Irish cream creates the white middle layer. Top it all off with orange-flavored Grand Marnier. While you may be skeptical about an orange-mint-cream flavored shot, the combination shockingly works. The flavors complement each other, creating a unique and memorable shot.

The Irish Car Bomb is a better cocktail than it is a name. Created in 1979 by Charles Burke Cronin Oat, the titular bomb references the unusual drinking method. First, construct the shot. Layer Irish cream over Irish whiskey. Drop the shot into a glass of Guinness and chug. While the Irish Car Bomb originated in Connecticut, it captures all of Ireland’s favorite flavors. Just be careful about using the name in front of an Emerald Isle native. The nomenclature references the sectarian violence the country endured throughout the Troubles. 

Jungle juice recipes are palate-pleasers with lots of fruity flavors. This rendition showcases a bright green color and cut apples in the shape of shamrocks! The shareable recipe yields a large amount of punch, perfect for sharing. The boozy concoction calls for Irish whiskey, a sour apple spirit, a melon liqueur, and blue curaçao.

This recipe also combines blue curaçao and orange juice to create a strong citrus flavor and a festive green color. These mimosas also contain champagne and vodka, making them boozier than the average cocktail of this variety. Try these cocktails for an easy-to-make option that doesn’t require special bar tools to make!

Follow this recipe to craft four Lucky Leprechaun Shots, perfect for celebrating with a few friends. The glasses have a rim of golden sprinkles, adding a festive flair to the drink. The shots themselves are simple to make, using only two ingredients. Combine your choice of whiskey with apple schnapps resulting in this easy-to-drink shooter. 

The Emerald Sunrise provides two beautiful ways to present the cocktail. The three-ingredient recipe uses orange juice, blue curaçao, and tequila. Create a layer look by mixing the tequila and orange juice and using a large straw to add the blue curaçao to the bottom of the glass. Alternatively, incorporating all the ingredients results in a lovely green color.

Many St. Patrick’s Day cocktails contain rich ingredients, but if that’s not what you’re craving, consider an Irish Sour. This drink features Irish whiskey and swaps the lime juice in the typical sour for grapefruit juice. The bitterness contrasts with sweet maraschino liqueur, which adds a touch of red color to the cocktail.

Not all St. Patrick’s Day cocktails need to be green. This Luck of the Irish cocktail has an attractive orange color from tangerine juice, which also provides a sweet, citrus flavor. Irish whiskey gives the drink its kick, and shaking with an egg white creates a foam at the top of the cocktail, sure to impress guests!

This smooth and velvety martini combines Bailey’s Irish Cream with creme de menthe, resulting in a rich and minty base. Half and half introduces an even more creamy texture, while vodka makes the martini boozier. Top the festive light green cocktail with whipped cream to craft a cocktail suitable for dessert. 

The Grasshopper Cocktail provides another creamy option for St. Patrick’s Day cocktails. Creme de menthe flavors the drink with minty tones you can accentuate with a fresh herb garnish. White creme de cacao and heavy cream make this drink one of the smoothest on this list! The pleasant light green color helps this cocktail stay on theme for the holiday. 

Follow this recipe to create a variation on the whiskey sour with a festive green color perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Lime and lemon juice from the sour base for this cocktail, while a small amount of simple syrup sweetens the drink. The cocktail calls for Irish whiskey, which is shaken with the other ingredients and a single drop of food color to produce a tasty green drink!

The Good Luck Charm provides a refreshing option compared to other sweet and decadent cocktails. Start by shaking Irish whiskey and elderflower liqueur over ice with invigorating ingredients like cucumber and mint, which will also be used for garnish. Lime juice and sparkling water keep this cocktail light, bright, and easy to drink.

This cocktail is another that gets its green hue from the combination of orange juice and blue curaçao. The tropical-flavored drink also calls for pineapple juice, vodka, and fruity peach schnapps. Despite the long ingredient list, the cocktail is also easy to make. Simply combine all ingredients and shake over ice. 

Melon liqueur creates an intriguing lime color in this cocktail. Start by adding the liquor and then a small amount of lemon juice to add some citrus tones. Top with prosecco, and the bubbly cocktail is complete! Garnish with a lemon twist and serve. These eye-catching cocktails take little time to craft, making them an excellent brunch option!

This sweet, smooth shot combines two flavorful liqueurs: hazelnut and Irish cream. Though these St. Patrick’s Day cocktails are often served as shooters, many sip and savor the smooth consistency of the drink. The nuttiness of the liqueur pairs perfectly with the creamy components in this festive cocktail.

The Black Velvet uses the fewest ingredients of all of the St. Patrick’s Day cocktails on this list. Crafting this drink relies heavily on the pour. First, fill a flute halfway with champagne, and top slowly with Guinness until the glass is full. The resulting cocktail tastes like the rich stout with added tartness and extra bubbles.

Despite the name, this shooter doesn’t contain any stout. However, it mimics the look of a beer by layering coffee liqueur with Irish cream. The simple shot tastes rich and slightly bitter from the coffee liqueur. These two-ingredient cocktails are great for a party setting since they are so easy to make.