It is a time to celebrate and relish in your heritage…wear green, tip a glass and enjoy some of these St. Patrick’s Day cocktail.
St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday where people wear green, make merry and imbibe…often heavily. In Ireland, up until the mid-twentieth century, the holiday remained modest and grounded in religion. It was not until the swinging 1960s when in Ireland it became the raucous celebration it is today. To help carry on the tradition, here are the best St. Patrick’s Day cocktail recipes.
You can’t get more of a St. Patrick’s Day drink than a boilermaker. Originally call the Sean O’Farrell, it was created in the 1890s in Montana. When the beer is served as a chaser, the drink is often called simply a shot and a beer.
Ingredients
1ouncewhiskey (usually bourbon or rye)
8ouncesbeer
Create
Pour the whiskey into a shot glass
Fill a pint glass halfway with beer.
Drop the shot glass into the beer.
Drink
Irish Car Bomb
A variation of the Boilermaker with a little dark history. It hit the scene in 1979 in Wilson’s Saloon in Connecticut by Charles Burke Cronin Oat. Originally created as a mixed shot drink called a Grandfather combining Baileys Irish Cream and Kahlúa. On St. Patrick’s Day March 1977 he added Jameson Irish Whiskey to the drink, calling this drink “the IRA.” In 1979, Oat spontaneously dropped this shot into a partially-drunk Guinness, calling the result a Belfast Carbomb or Irish Carbomb. And history was made.
It’s rarely a good idea to chug anything, but the Irish Shot is an exception, as it benefits from quick consumption. That’s because the Irish cream will react with the acidic beer and begin to curdle if allowed to sit for more than a few seconds. And nobody wants curdled cream in their drink.
Ingredients
1/2ounce Irish whiskey
1/2ounceBaileys Irish cream
Guinness beer
Create
Add the Baileys and whiskey into a shot glass, pouring slowly to create a layered effect.
Drop the shot into a pint glass filled half to three-quarters with the Guinness. Drink immediately.
Vodka Stinger
While not a traditional St. Patrick’s Day cocktail, it does have a new green coloring and has the popular vodka as a base. Created ink 1890, a stinger is made with brandy, crème de menthe, and simple syrup. It is first noted in William Schmidt’s 1892 cocktail book The Flowing Bowl. Immediately popular with New York social set, it spread across the country. A “vodka stinger”, also known as a white spider, uses vodka instead of brandy.
½ oz of white creme de menthe (green if you want the Irish version)
Create
Load a shaker with ice cubes
Pop in all your ingredients, vodka and crème de menthe
The Chicago River is green today and green is the color of celebrations today! So how to make green beer – well, it isn’t hard. Legend has it, Dr. Thomas Curtincreated green beer we drink today. Dr. Thomas Curtin, a coroner’s physician and eye surgeon, first colored beer for a St. Patrick’s Day party at the Schnerer Club of Morrisania in the Bronx in 1914. It has been popular every since and the green does not change the flavor.
Ingredients
12ounces light color beer like a pilsner and witbier
1drop green food coloring
Create
Find a clear beer class
Add the food coloring to the bottom of the glass
Pour in the beer
Toast to your friends
May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold
And at the end of all your rainbows
May you find a pot of gold.
May the roof over your head always be strong
May you be in Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you’re dead!
Some of the top reasons people drink alcohol is to relax, for enjoyment, to be part of a group, to avoid physical and/or psychological pain, to experiment and for rebellion. It has been around for thousands of years used in religious ceremonies, medical treatments, sensual moments and more. But, what are the top 10 reasons people consume marijuana today? Well, there is some data, and it varies a little by age.
With legalization, all of Canada and over 50% of the US have access to legal marijuana, leading to it becoming more accepted. Over 85% believe it should be legal in some form and the federal government has acknowledge is has health properties.
Psychology Todaypublished an article with the information. They took data from four different studies to discover use reasons and published some of the findings. The papers are typically based on secondary research. In other words, they rely on surveys and data collected from other sources which they use to build a “picture” of the average consumer.
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Age does play a significant role for motivation. College freshmen make different decisions based on their limited life experience and social environment. The first study looked at possible motivators for entering college students.
“The most frequently reported reasons included enjoyment/fun, conformity, experimentation, social enhancement, boredom, and relaxation.”
Social acceptance was another high ranking category in this age group and it makes sense. When you’re finally “out of the nest”, you need a conduit to engage with other people. If people are smoking weed, you may feel slightly more inclined to try to “fit in”.
Post college age is where the majority of consumers exist. Another study looked at this demographic to understand motivations for consuming cannabis. Not surprisingly, there is a far more nuanced list of reasons than the college aged demographic. According to researchers here are the top 10 reasons people consume marijuana.
Similar to alcohol, the top reason is recreation. But unlike alcohol, the next major reason is medical use, with a significant about of people using it to treat a variety of issues including chronic pain, cancer, seizures, anxiety, and more.
Coping with stress and anxiety is further down on the list, something different from alcohol. But using substances to escape from long term issues is rather productive. Like a glass at the end of the day, a gummy or puff from a vape it can just take the edge a rough day. But doing it too much and indulging to much could be a reason to evaluate the motive.
The study researchers shared “Users are for the most part very self aware of their consumption habits, and alters their behavior when they see it as problematic.”
Despite science, the AMA and public opinion – there is still a group trying to squash marijuana legalization.
Marijuana has been around for a millennia, providing not only a some chill, but clear medical benefits. Now, the plant is emerging from a 110+ public ban and is being rediscovered as a help to greater mankind. Recreationally, it is better both physically and mentally for the body over alcohol. And in health care it can help cancer, chronic pain and more. This is known with just the beginning of research. But there is always a group who ignores common sense and become the haters trying to stop cannabis rescheduling are a being a bit silly and out of touch.
The slow moving Biden administration has finally pushed rescheduling, recognizing the plant for not being as dangerous as heroin and having clear scientific health benefits. Science, the Health and Human Services (HHS), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and veteran organizations all acknowledge the importance of legal cannabis. But the resistance is there, including former US Attorney General Bill Barr and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
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The law firm Bill Barr started, Torridon Law PLLC filled a motion on part of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) to extend the public comment window. The DEA, formerly under Barr, has been slow and somewhat resistant to giving up the war on marijuana. By delaying the process, it gives them more time to lobby or hope for a change in administration.
SAM has worked with Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-NC) to try to put a stop on it with Edwards introducing a bill called the “Stop Pot Act” which failed. They continue to fundraise and work to keep marijuana from falling into the hands of patients.
Another one fighting change is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The governor made his citizen vote overwhelming twice to have medical marijuana and still said they were confused. Now, with polling saying a large majority of the state wants recreational, he is at it again. Despite taking money from the industry, the former presidential candidate is using scare tactics and trying to find ways to stop fully legal weed.
It is all the rage to lose weight and is causing a stir for several reason. But can you have a a bit of a vape and chill while on it?
The latest weight loss trend has been the use of Ozempic. A Gallup poll suggested over 6% of adults in the US and Canada have tried it. So over 16+ million have given it a go. Amy Schumer, Kelly Clarkson, Sharon Osbourne, Chelsea Handler, Dolores Catania, Oprah, and Charles Barkley have all tried it. Millions of people struggle with weight and their body image. In the last 12 months 56% of women and almost 42% of men have tried to slim down. And the new hot drug is seen as the silver bullet. But what if you want to relax and chill out while taking it? Can you consume marijuana on Ozempic?
Some people enjoy eating, the taste of the food and the ritual of dining alone or with friends. Dieting and other weight loss programs are often seen as a punshment or negative. And if you want to chill out, alcohol usually interferes with a slimming routines due to sugar and how it is absorbed in the body. But marijuana is a different story. Ozempic works by mimicking a naturally occurring hormone. As those hormone levels rise, the molecules go to your brain, telling it you’re full. It also slows digestion by increasing the time it takes for food to leave the body. This is similar to the effect of bariatric surgery.
With limited research and data, it seems small amounts of alcohol, such as 1-2 drinks per day with food, are generally considered safe based on initial studies. However, alcohol is known to interfere with blood sugar control mechanisms, which Ozempic is aimed at improving. So there could be issue around the success of the routine.
Marijuana thought it different in its makeup and how the body absorbs it. Currently, there hasn’t be in research or data showing marijuana interferes with the drug. But, keep in mind Ozempic may interact with oral forms of cannabis (forms you swallow), such as tablets, capsules, gummies and other edibles.
The side effects can be troublesome and include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and at times diarrhea. These are related to the same concept regarding the movement of the bowels and the stomach. The benefits come somehow from the same pathway. Beyond gastrointestinal symptoms, the medication can also cause rash, gallbladder issues, abdominal pain. It is allows important to talk to health professional when starting something which can have an impact on your body and organs.