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Birthdays are celebrated in my group of friends. We love a good excuse to get together to enjoy each others’ company, good food, and great drinks. My friend’s Brandon’s birthday was no exception to this very fine rule we all live by. His wife had the idea to throw together a whiskey tasting party and build our own steak salad bar. The food was epic… as always. The drinks… well, lets just say, we enjoyed some mighty fine whiskeys!

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. As with all my posts the opinions are my own. This post is intended for readers of legal drinking age. 

 

Whiskey Tasting Party from A Well Crafted Party

 

How to Throw a Whiskey Tasting Party

There are a couple of different routes you could go to throw a whiskey tasting party:

  1. Purchase all the whiskeys yourself and get a good variety of styles and brands. PRO: This way you know you will get to taste different things and you can even try different styles. CON: It can get expensive FAST.
  2. Give each guest a style of whiskey and let them bring a bottle. PRO: You will get to taste different styles of whiskey. CON: Guests may worry about costs of the certain style of whiskey given or may not know a good brand to bring.
  3. Ask guests to bring their favorite whiskey. PRO: You know you will get whiskeys your guests enjoy. CON: You may not get a good selection of styles of whiskey.

Our lovely host asked us each to bring our favorite kind of whiskey. (Note: She offered for us to just show up and enjoy the evening if whiskey wasn’t in the budget. She is cool like that.) Those who knew what they were going to bring shared the name of the whiskey in a Facebook Event so that we wouldn’t double up bottles. We ended up having all bourbon styles of whiskey except for one Irish Whiskey… but, all of them were tasty and everyone found at least one whiskey that they loved.

AWCP-OldIrishCocktailPinterest

 

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

How are you celebrating today? Are you kissing someone Irish, wearing green, or enjoying a tasty dish of Bangers & Mash? I’ll be celebrating by whipping up a cocktail with an Irish twist!

This past winter I was sent the book Savory Cocktails by Greg Henry (affiliate link) for review. I’ve been making my way through the book getting creative with drinks such as a Perfect Martini and Salad Bowl Gin & Tonic. Enjoying the tart and refreshing combinations of herbs and liquor. As I was working on creating a cocktail in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I wanted to find something that would pair well with Irish Whiskey, so I picked up the Savory Cocktail book looking for ideas.

While I can drink a bourbon with just ice, for me Irish Whiskey has a bit more of a bite to it and I wanted something that would smooth out the flavor while keeping its notes of honey and citrus. (Not all Irish Whiskeys are the same… so, I may still discover something I can drink sans mixers.)  That is when I stumbled upon Henry’s recipe for Clove-Infused Honey Syrup… the combination is PERFECT. It is smoky, rich, smooth, and sweet.

Irish Whiskey with Honey Clove Syrup

How to make an Old Irish Cocktail:

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz Clove-Infused Honey Syrup
  • 2 oz Irish Whiskey
  • Freshly Squeezed Juice of 1 Orange
  • 1 orange slice for garnish

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients over ice in a rocks glass (I love my large ice cube mold for my whiskey drinks— the larger ice cubes don’t melt as fast or water down my cocktails as quickly.)
  2. Garnish with orange slice
  3. Sláinte! 

Old Irish Cocktail from A Well Crafted Party

How to Make Clove Infused Honey Syrup

Recipe from Savory Cocktails by Greg Henry shared with permission

  • 2 tbsp whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup honey

“Place the cloves in a small, nonreactive container and lightly crush them with a wooden muddler. Add the warm water and honey; stir to combine, then cover and set at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Taste the syrup; add more honey if you feel it is too strong.

When your syrup has the taste you want, pour it through a wire-mesh sieve lined with a double layer of damp cheesecloth; discard the solids. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Makes about 1 cup.”

 


Disclosure: I was sent a copy of “Savory Cocktails” for purposes of review. All thoughts and opinions above are my own. I’ve also included affiliate links in this post. Items purchased from affiliate links help this blogger earn a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for supporting this blog.

A Well Crafted Party
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