Not all cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day are green. Heck, not all leprechauns are short. While, I can’t independently confirm the second one, I certainly can confirm the first one. How am I so confident? Easy, look no further than the Irish Cocktail.

That’s right, a classic cocktail called the Irish Cocktail — one of the best things that you can drink for St. Patrick’s Day when you’re not feeling green beer or green cocktails (though we have those if you’re interested, look no farther than the Grasshopper and the Green Fizz for your green fix).

What are you getting here? Hopefully not surprisingly, the cocktail is based on Irish whiskey (note the “e,” that’s how you know it’s Irish whiskey — that, however, is another post).

For the rest, we have our friends of maraschino liqueur, orange curacao and absinthe. I guess with the addition of absinthe, it’s not a wholly un-green drink. It does have the green fairy. Still, the drink itself is brown.

Tying that all together is a little bitters.

How does it taste? Depending on if you like licorice or not, either amazing or not so good. That’s the thing about absinthe, it has a way of dominating drinks.

When you tone down the absinthe, you get a pleasant little drink that doesn’t shout, “I’m celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! Let’s all get ripped!” The classy way to start the day, if you will.

When looking for that discreet drink to celebrate an entire day of drinking, but still staying on theme, look no further than the Irish Cocktail.

Now, let’s get blarney!