Cocktail of the Month - May

Digbeth Highball

As an incentive to get out the house and go drinking (as if anyone needs an excuse), I'm making it my mission to try a different Irish whiskey based cocktail each month, and if ingredients permit, to try recreating them at home. Or if I'm feeling particularly fancy (or skint), to raid my ingredients cupboard and come up with my own concoctions.

The inaugural cocktail of the month is the Digbeth Highball, which I tried at Zumhof Biergarten. Bit of background before we begin, if you haven't read my "About Me", I live in Birmingham (the England one not the Alabama one). Birmingham has a large Irish population, many of whom came to the UK as part of the industrial revolution in search of work. Digbeth is the "home" of Birmingham's Irish community; up until last year it was home to the Irish Association (who have since realocated to the suburbs because of regeneration) and hosts the annual St Patrick's Day Parade (well, when there's not a global pandemic......). 

Why am I waffling on about Digbeth? Because honestly it took me 10 minutes to figure out why a fancy Jameson, ginger and lime was called the Digbeth Highball. In my defence it was the first time I'd been out in like a year and the excitement went straight to my head.

So, the ingredients, as mentioned earlier this drink is a Jameson, ginger and lime with the addition of a magic ingredient called Barenjager (which is no doubt spelt with some umlauts which I've missed off). When I read it on the menu, the word "jager" made me gag, bringing back awful memories of jagerbombs in the Wetherspoons on Broad Street. Fortunately, the only thing Barenjager has in common with the dreaded Jagermeister is that it's made by the same company. Thank fuck.

Barenjager is a German honey flavoured vodka liqueur and it is bloody tasty! It blended really nicely with the warmth of the Jameson and the spice of the ginger ale. One of those all rounders which would go with go well in several cocktails, or on it's own if the mood took you.

So how do you make this drink. Well it's pretty simple, one measure of Jameson, one of Barenjager, some lime and ginger ale (all over ice of course) My drink came with a dehydrated orange segment which I took out as soon as I'd taken photos for the 'gram, because it didn't really add any thing and I couldn't eat it. I would've changed it to a wedge of lime if it was my creation.

If you're making this as home, you could of course substitute the Jameson for another whiskey, as long as it has warming honey notes to blend with the Barenjager. Something like Teeling Single Grain would probably go nicely.

Let me know in the comments how you'd jazz up a Jameson, ginger and lime?

Three Drams: March Tasting Box

After reaching full on lockdown 2.0 (or is it 3.0) cabin fever at the start of the year and emptying my resident bottles of Jameson, Roe & Co and Bushmills, I was delighted when my first tasting box from Three Drams arrived. Resisting temptation to drink them all as soon as possible, I made sure I kept Thursday 25th March free to watch and taste along live via their YouTube channel.

Dram 1: Teeling Renaissance Series 3 Single Malt

This pokey little number comes in at 46% ABV and is a limited edition 18 year old single malt. The delicious scent of alcohol was the first thing that hit me, and the taste was exceptionally smooth and fruity. It's finished in Muscat casks, which gives a heavy but sweet finish that balances nicely with the lighter notes of apple and citrus.

At £140 a bottle, this was one I was glad to be able to try as at that price point it's well out of my budget, unless I got myself a sugar daddy or an OnlyFans, but if you're looking for a crowd pleasing gift or a fancy treat for yourself, this would be a good buy.

Dram 2: Kilbeggan Single Pot Still

This was probably the dram I was least excited to try but that's definitely not because it's a bad whiskey, more due to the uniqueness of the other two samples. This special edition release is a must for history buffs given that it's not only made in Ireland's oldest whiskey distillery, the whiskey itself is distilled in the world's oldest working whiskey pot! It's made with an oats-based mash, giving it a creamy finish which blended nicely with the warm notes of honey. Despite my initial lack of enthusiasm, this was the only dram I finished on the night, which shows it's crowd pleasing drinkability.

Kilbeggan is on my definitely-want-to-visit-as-soon-as-I-can list and at £50 a bottle it would easily be one to put on the Christmas list.

Dram 3: Bushmills Caribbean Rum Cask Finish

As a rum lover, this was the dram I was most looking forward to tasting (as were most of my fellow tasters based on the chatter on the live stream). In fact it was a special preview of a yet-to-be released whiskey that's due to be available to purchase in April 2021.

Unsurprisingly this whiskey had notes of brown sugar, pineapple and coconut. It was very fresh and smooth and instantly made me daydream of leisurely afternoons in a beer garden. Whilst this whiskey could easily be drunk on it's own, it will be amazing in long drinks and cocktails (I've already tried it with tropical juice, yum!). I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle and see how it works in a pina colada.

At £25 a bottle it's a steal and definitely one to add to your collection.

Have you tried any of these Whiskeys? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!