If you go to Bar 1661 in Dublin, at least get a taste of Ireland’s oldest spirit. Bottles and bottles are neatly lined up along the carefully selected back bar, and the menu features a selection of drinks.But perhaps surprisingly, this legendary spirit do not have Whiskey loved in Ireland. Rather, owner Dave Mulligan and his passionate team proudly fly the flag for Poitin, his whiskey predecessor. Poitin is a barely aged Irish spirit made from potatoes, barley, and several other ingredients, originally distilled by monks in his 6th century and by rural townspeople. . Centuries later.
This is the unique focus of the bar, named after the year in which Poitin distilling was outlawed by the tax-hungry British Crown, but that spirit is just one element of the Bar 1661 experience. Modern Irish culture and agricultural products are also championed here. The cocktail menu is full of the finest local produce, with many of the ingredients, including carrots, peppers and rhubarb, sourced from Dublin city markets. Dubbed Kelly Green, the bar’s unapologetically Irish twist on the mojito is the culmination of Bar 1661’s approach.
“The idea was to showcase the versatility of poitin with a modern take on one of the world’s most popular cocktails, the mojito,” says the bar’s drinks director and creator of this recipe. says Ivana Maresic.
To realize this vision, Kelly Green is built on a complex base of infused spirits. The first is Mulligan’s own bottle, Vin Poitin, launched in 2013 and made from a blend of raw and malted barley, potatoes and Irish grains. It has an oily texture and a strong aroma of sour cream and bread. Using a high-frequency ultrasonic homogenizer, this bar is rapidly infused with dried eucalyptus, delivering a pleasant cooling sensation that amplifies the refreshingness of a classic mojito. This poitin is married with a blend of his two rums, Havana Club 3 Year Old and Plantley 3 Star, and is bottled with fresh spearmint leaves chilled for a full day before being strained and bottled. Finally, a touch of cocalero, a South American herbal spirit, adds a subtle green hue to the cocktail.
Although this force-carbonated mojito doesn’t contain fresh lime juice (the pulp tends to foam, making it difficult to carbonate), Maresic uses lime oleosaccharum and lime acid (a solution of citric and malic acids in water). )made. acid powder) to evoke classic sweet-sour citrus notes. For her, the lime scent is an “essential” part of the mix to convey the original scent.
To add body and balance to the drink, Malesic adds a soothing, earthy aloe vera syrup made from store-bought aloe juice. To dilute it, she incorporates mint elements in her teas with cold brew peppermint. She carbonates the entire diluted batch three times to create a long-lasting, tingling effervescence bursting with bright green notes of mint and citrus.
You could easily slip a fresh bouquet of mint sprigs into this nuanced take on a mojito, but this version called for more. The final touch is a kelly green geometric decoration created by pouring the dyed isomalt mixture into a rectangular silicone ice cube mold.
With its minimalist look and crowd-pleasing flavor, Kelly Green is able to attract both long-time cocktail lovers as well as tourists looking to visit one of Ireland’s best cocktail bars. Masu. “This drink is a great representation of Bar 1661,” says Maresic. “It’s a re-imagining of Poitin in a drink that appeals to the masses.”
