Green Beer, take it or leave it?

As an Irish American I have grown up with all the Saint Patrick's Day customs including green beer. I have worn my green shirts and shamrock shades, painted rainbows and pots of gold on my face. I never miss a good Irish Pub Crawl, or a good old fashioned Irish brawl, but I have never had a green beer. I prefer my beer dark and the thought of a watery beer and food dye cocktail does not appeal to the beer lover in me. That does not mean that you should not go full on Irish this Saint Patrick's Day. If you want green beer simply add a few drops of blue food coloring into a light colored beer. It is that easy, I bet you could even add it to ginger ale or apple juice for the non drinkers.

 There are different versions of where this tradition started, though it seems no one really knows. Some say the tradition probably started in Boston or New York, where there are large numbers of Irish-Americans. There is also the tradition of “drowning the shamrock”. The custom of imbibing alcohol on St. Patrick's Day comes from an old Irish legend. As the story goes, St. Patrick was served a measure of whiskey that was considerably less than full. St. Patrick took this as an opportunity to teach a lesson of generosity to the innkeeper. He told the innkeeper that in his cellar resided a monstrous devil who fed on the dishonesty of the innkeeper. In order to banish the devil, the man must change his ways. When St. Patrick returned to the hostelry some time later, he found the owner generously filling the patrons' glasses to overflowing. He returned to the cellar with the innkeeper and found the devil emaciated from the landlord's generosity, and promptly banished the demon, proclaiming thereafter everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day. This custom is known as Pota Phadraig or Patrick's Pot. The custom is known as "drowning the shamrock" because it is customary to float a leaf of the plant in the whiskey before downing the shot.

I am not sure how it started, but I am positive it will never end.  We will continue to paint ourselves and and everything in our  world green for a day to celebrate our immense pride. It is our thing, it is what we do (most of us). We are Irish American, and we are proud!

Sláinte!