The Green & Orange

The name ‘Green & Orange’ refers not to the color of the drink, which is the deep red of BadCat’s house-made grenadine, but rather to the ingredients of the drink, and their symbolic connection to the green and orange of the flag of Ireland. The green of the flag represents Catholics, for which I chose Jameson Whiskey, the pre-eminent Catholic Irish Whiskey in the United States. The orange, representing Protestants, is reflected in the cocktail by orange cognac and orange simple syrup. At it’s heart, this drink is a whiskey stone sour (that is to say, a sour with the addition of orange), but the citrus is dialed back by using orange-infused simple syrup and cognac, producing a smoother drink, with added dimension from the grenadine. This approach allowed me to suffuse the drink with orange without overpowering the Irish Whiskey or being too sweet.

St. Patrick’s Day is an important holiday for Chicagoans, and I wanted to have an Irish Whiskey drink that is approachable to cocktail fans who might otherwise eschew whiskey drinks, so I created The Green & Orange to not only appeal to a variety of drinks, but pay homage to the culture, too.