Which venues are involved? 

57 The Headline, Balfes, Bow Lane, Brasserie Sixty6, Bronze, Bull & Castle, Candlelight Bar, Coppinger Row, Diep Le Shaker, Drury Buildings Secret Bar, East Side Tavern, Ely CHQ, Fade Street Social, Fire, Foley’s Bar, Harry’s on the Green, House, Koh, Peruke & Periwig, Saba, Söder + Ko, Sophie’s, South William, The Blind Pig, The Chelsea Drug Store, The Exchequer, The Liquor Rooms, The Meeting House, The Vintage Cocktail Club, The Waterloo Bar, The Woollen Mills, Upstairs at Kinara Kitchen.. There are still more venues to be announced. For full details on each venue please click here.

How does Dublin Cocktail Fest work? 

Every participating venue has been asked to create a specific cocktail to sell for the week at a 30% discount to anyone who has a festival wristband. The wristbands cost €5 and will be available at each of the venues, they can be used throughout the week at all of the venues. Each of the cocktails must contain an Irish spirit or liqueur as their primary ingredient. So if they want to run with an Old Fashioned, it’s got to have an Irish whiskey. Or if they want to feature a martini then it has to lead with an Irish gin or vodka. If they’d like to create something sweeter, they may use one of the many Irish liqueurs.

For Dublin Cocktail Fest 2015, they are also working with TheTaste.ie  who are facilitating their extremely effective and popular online voucher system. Venues will be offering special rates on their festival cocktails and also offering food pairings, all of which are available on www.TheTaste.ie.

Who are Great Irish Beverages?

Great Irish Beverages was set up last summer by Oisin Davis who wished to showcase the array and high quality of drinks that Dublin venues are now selling. In October 2014, they created Dublin Cocktail Fest in 24 venues, the first cocktail festival in Ireland. This was followed by Dublin Whiskey Fest in February 2015 which was the first Irish whiskey festival to engage with multiple brands.  In April 2015, they partnered with food, wine and travel writer Aoife Carrigy to run Dublin Wine Fest which was a fantastic culinary celebration that ran in over 30 venues. Also on September 3rd across the island of Ireland with the great assistance of Fáilte Ireland, they ran the first Irish Cider & Food day again with Aoife. This was an all Ireland celebration of pairing Irish ciders with Irish food. Venues across Northern and Southern Ireland were involved.

Public vote for best cocktail! #BestIrishCocktail 

By using the #BestIrishCocktail on twitter or by telling them on their Facebook page, they will be asking the public to vote for their cocktail of the festival. Voting will open on October 12th from 6pm and will close on October 18th at 6pm. The winning venue will receive a handmade plaque and will hold the honour of having the best Irish made cocktail in Dublin.

Ingredients

1/3 oz. Rose Syrup
1 1/3 oz. Vodka
Pink Rose Petals
1 oz Rose Water
3 oz Tonic
1 drop of pink food colouring

Method

Shake on ice and pour … garnish with rose petals … enjoy!

Ingredients

Makes 7-8 pops

3 cups chopped fresh pineapple (14 ounces)
1/3 cup well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
1/3 cup light rum

Method

Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, pressing on and then discarding solids. Pour into molds. Freeze 30 minutes. Insert sticks, then freeze until firm, about 24 hours.

Ingredients

Whiskey
Lemonade
Honey sticks
Lemon slices

Method

Mix 1 ounce whiskey with lemonade and garnish with a lemon slice and honey stick. Cut the honey stick open at the bottom, so that as you stir, honey will sweeten the drink!

To modify this drink into a mocktail, replace the whiskey with tonic water, ginger beer, or tea.

Sweet and tart!

Ingredients

Champagne
Cranberry juice
Blueberries
Raspberries
Square and star ice cube trays

Method

1. To make the star-shaped fruit ice, start by filling the trays with fruit. We used raspberries and blueberries. Finish off the trays with regular water, and put in the freezer.

2. To make the cranberry ice cubes, just pour cranberry juice into a regular square ice-cube tray and freeze.

3. Once the cubes are frozen, play with your presentation. Definitely use clear glasses, so that everyone can see your beautiful ice. If you place the cranberry cube in first, then a fruit star, and then sparkling water, you’ll get a pretty color gradient going up the glass. Fill with champagne and enjoy!

Credit // mom.me

Ingredients

2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp honey syrup
2 oz club soda
2 oz tequila
ice, as needed
grapefruit wedges, for garnish
grapefruit salt rim

Grapefruit Salt Rim:

1 Tbsp coarse salt
1 tsp grated grapefruit zest

Honey Syrup:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup honey

Method

1. Moisten the rim of serving glass with a lime wedge or a little bit of water.  Turn glass upside down into grapefruit salt mixture.  Twist glass around to thoroughly salt the rim.
2. Fill serving glass a little more than half full of ice.  Pour in 2 oz fresh grapefruit juice.
3. Add 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice.  Follow with 2 tsp honey syrup.
4. Add 2 oz club soda and 2 oz tequila.  Stir to combine.
5. Add more ice, if necessary.  Garnish finished cocktail with a grapefruit wedge.

Grapefruit Salt Rim:

Combine salt and grapefruit zest.  Keep on a flat plate.

Honey Syrup:

In a small sauce pot combine water and honey. Set over medium heat.  Stir until honey dissolves into water.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Ingredients

4 oz coconut rum
4 oz light (white) rum
10 oz frozen strawberries
8 oz pineapple juice
8 oz cream of coconut
2 cups crushed ice
fresh pineapple wedges, for garnish

Method

1. In a blender, combine coconut rum, light rum, and strawberries. Blend to a puree. Transfer to a clean pitcher.
2. Clean and wash out blender. Add pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth.
3. Divide strawberry rum puree among 4 serving classes. Slowly pour pineapple coconut mixture into the glass. The red mixture will evenly swirl with the white mixture.
4. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and serve immediately.

Credit // The Chic Site

Ingredients

3 12oz bottles ginger beer- such as Bundaberg
6 oz lime, juice
6 oz vodka
2 sprigs of fresh mint
1 lime cut into wedges, for garnish

Method

In a large pitcher, combine the lime juice, vodka and ginger beer. Add mint leaves and pour over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge. Enjoy!

Credit // Freut Cake

Ingredients

* Fresh blueberries
* Fresh mint leaves
* Limes {about 1/2 for each drink}
* Sugar
* Rum
* Club Soda
* Ice
* Muddler
* Stirs
* Shot measurer

Method

In each glass add…
* 5-10 mint leaves
* 5 fresh blueberries
* 2 tsp sugar
* 1/2 small lime, juiced {I just used my muddler to juice it!}

Muddle… or smash all your ingredients together to release their flavors!

Next add 1-1/2 oz. of your favorite Rum and 1-1/2 oz. of club soda. Add ice and fruity ice to fill your glass up, but keep it at least 1/4″ below the rim of your glass. If you’re using taller glasses, double your ingredients, or to taste.

Top your cocktail off with a lime wedge, a few more mint leaves and blueberries and serve!

Credit // Love Meagan

Ingredients

12 ounces Lillet Rose
12 ounces red grapefruit juice
6 ounces gin
6 edible flower blossoms

Method

1. Combine 6 ounces Lillet, 6 ounces grapefruit juice, 3 ounces gin, and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until well chilled.

2. Strain and divide cocktail among 3 stemmed cocktail glasses, such as Champagne coupes. Repeat.

3. Garnish with flowers. Serve immediately.

Credit // Martha Stewart