You don’t go to Dublin’s Bar 1661 without at least tasting Ireland’s most historic spirit. Bottles and bottles of the stuff are stocked in tidy rows along the well-curated backbar, and it stars in an array of drinks on the menu. It may come as a surprise, however, that this storied spirit is not Ireland’s beloved whiskey. Rather, owner Dave Mulligan and his passionate team proudly fly the flag for Irish whiskey’s predecessor, poitín, a mostly unaged Irish spirit made from potatoes, barley or several other ingredients that was originally distilled by monks as early as the sixth century and rural townsfolk for many centuries thereafter.
It’s a unique focus for the bar, which is aptly named after the year poitín distillation was outlawed by the tax-hungry British crown, but the spirit is merely one element of the Bar 1661 experience. Contemporary Irish culture and produce are also championed here: The cocktail menu is injected with some of the finest local ingredients, many of which, such as carrots, peppers and rhubarb, are sourced from the Dublin city markets. The bar’s unapologetically Irish twist on the Mojito, aptly named the Kelly Green, is the pinnacle of Bar 1661’s approach.
“The idea was to create a modern take on one of the most popular cocktails in the world, the Mojito, to showcase the versatility of poitín,” says Ivana Marešić , the bar’s beverage director and creator of this particular recipe.
To execute this vision, the Kelly Green is built on an intricate base of infused spirits. The first is Bán poitín, Mulligan’s own bottling, launched in 2013 and made from a blend of raw and malted barley, potatoes and Irish grain; it’s oily in texture, with a robust nose of sour cream and bread. Using a high-frequency ultrasonic homogenizer, the bar rapidly infuses the spirit with dried eucalyptus, which provides a pleasant cooling sensation to amplify the refreshing quality of a classic Mojito. This poitín is married with a blend of two rums—Havana Club 3-year and Planteray 3 Stars—which is cold-infused with fresh spearmint leaves for a full day before being strained and bottled. Finally, a touch of cocalero, an herbal spirit from South America, gives the cocktail its subtle green hue.
While there’s no fresh lime juice in this force-carbonated twist on the Mojito—the pulp isn’t conducive to carbonation because of its tendency to foam—Marešić created a lime oleo saccharum and lime acid (a solution of water mixed with citric and malic acid powders) to evoke the sweet-sour citrus notes of the classic. For her, the lime aroma is an “essential” part of the mix in order to channel the original.
For additional body and balance in the drink, Marešić adds a measure of soothing, earthy aloe vera syrup made from store-bought aloe juice. For dilution, she leans into the mint factor with a cold-brewed peppermint tea. The entire diluted batch is carbonated three times for a long-lasting, tingling effervescence that is bursting with bright green aromatics of mint and citrus.
While a fresh bouquet of mint sprigs could easily slide its way into this nuanced take on the Mojito, this version demanded more. The final touch is a Kelly green–colored, geometric garnish that’s made by pouring a dyed isomalt mixture into rectangular silicone ice molds.
With its minimalist look and crowd-pleasing flavor, the Kelly Green is capable of enticing both longtime cocktail enthusiasts and the wandering tourists who find themselves at one of Ireland’s best cocktail bars. “This drink is a great representation of Bar 1661,” says Marešić. “It showcases poitín in a drink that appeals to the masses, while also being reimagined.”
