Irish Rose

Serve in a

How to make:

1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
3. SHAKE first 4 ingredients with ice.
4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
5. TOP with soda.
6. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over cocktail and use as a garnish with skewered cherry.

AKA:

Wild Eyed Rose, Wild Irish Rose

Review:

The gentle bite of Irish whiskey soured with lemon and sweetened with pomegranate syrup. The splash of soda which crowns this drink serves to lighten and add a touch of sparkle.

History:

A recipe for a Wild Irish Rose cocktail first appears Geo. R. Washburne and Stanley Bronner's 1911 book Beverages De Luxe, "As served at Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, Illinois and attributed to "Samuel Foote, Manager Liquor Department".

WILD IRISH ROSE
Use highball glass.
One-half lime muddled.
Small toddy.
Spoonful Grenadine Syrup.
Three-fourths jigger Irish Whisky.
Lump highball ice.
Fill up with seltzer.

Geo. R. Washburne and Stanley Bronner, Beverages De Luxe, 1911

Broadly the same recipe is repeated as:
- "The Irish Rose" in Kendall Banning's 1912 The Squire's Recipes
- "Wild Eyed Rose" in Hugo R. Ensslin's 1916-17 Recipes for Mixed Drink
- "Irish Rose" in Jacob A. Didier's 1917 The Reminder
- "Wild Irish Rose" in by Joseph P. and Charles A. Sasena's 1933 Fine Beverages and Recipes for Mixed Drinks
- "Wild Eyed Rose Cocktail in Patrick Gavin Duffy's 1934 The Official Mixers Manual

Wild Eyed Rose Cocktail
Juice of 1/2 Lime
Z/2 Pony Grenadine
1 Drink of Irish Whiskey
Serve with cube of Ice and fizz with Carbonated Water.
Use glass number 4.
[glass No. 4 is depicted as a stemmed highball.]

Patrick Gavin Duffy, The Official Mixers Manual, 1934

All the above recipes are based on Irish whiskey with lime juice and grenadine served in a highball glass with carbonated water/seltzer. The exception to this is the Irish Rose in William T Boothby's 1934 The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them which specifies lemon juice (rather than lime), shaken and served in a cocktail glass without the addition of soda.

IRISH ROSE
Whisky....... 3/5 jigger
Lemon........ 1/5 jigger
Grenadine... 2 spoons
Shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass and serve.

William T Boothby, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them, 1934

I was first introduced to this cocktail as a Wild Irish Rose by Dale DeGroff served straight up (as per the recipe above) as a riff on the Jack Rose. I have subsequently changed the name of this cocktail to a mere Irish Rose as I now consider the highball version with lime juice to be the authentic Wild Irish Rose.
[Thanks to research by Stephen Curtin, a fellow Discerning Drinker.]

Nutrition:

One serving of Irish Rose contains 183 calories.

Alcohol content:

• 1.3 standard drinks
• 16.81% alc./vol. (33.62° proof)
• 17.6 grams of pure alcohol