15+ Irish Car Bomb & Other Guinness-Inspired Cocktail Recipes

by Randy Woodward April 29, 2021


Irish Car Bomb is a relatively simple bomb shot recipe made with Irish cream and Irish Whiskey dropped into a glass of Guinness. It is basically two drinks, drank together for a cocktail that will take you places.

The History of Irish Car Bomb

Created by Charles Burke Cronin Oat in 1979 as a St. Patrick’s Day drink, it became a rather controversial beverage. The ingredients for this shot are all Irish, made with Irish cream and coffee liqueur. Later, the Irish whiskey was added and the drink was officially named the Irish Car Bomb.

The name was meant to be innocent, mainly due to the “explosion” it creates when the shot is dropped into the beer. However, it brought to mind the gory details of the detonation of more than 20 car bombs in Belfast, Ireland in 1972.

No wonder that even the makers of the main ingredients purposely fail to mention Irish Car Bomb in their annual St. Patrick’s promotional ads. In his book, Oat regretted naming the cocktail thus. In fact, ordering that cocktail in any Irish pub can get you kicked out early.

How to Make Irish Car Bomb

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a shooter glass with equal parts Irish cream and Irish whiskey.
  2. Pour beer into a pint glass.
  3. Drop the shooter inside it and drink.

What is Guinness?

Guinness is a dark Irish dry beer and is considered as the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland. Made with malted and roasted unmalted barley, it started with humble beginnings when Arthur Guinness started to brew ales then exported his first few barrels to Great Britain.

During the first centuries of brewing, Guinness only produced three variations of a single beer. One of them is the porter or single stout beer. Another is the double stout and the third is the foreign stout. “Stout” refers to the beer strength, but later on, the word denoted the body and color of the beer.

Lighter beers tend to skunk earlier than dark beers. It loses its distinctive taste due to the breaking down of the molecules in the beer and recombining with a sulfuric compound as a result of exposure to UV light. To counter the skunking, beers are bottled in amber bottles or UV-protected glass bottles.

Other Guinness Cocktail Recipes

1. Guinness Black and Blonde

Black and blonde is a beauty to behold. Made with just two versions of the Guinness, it highlights the contrast how one stout can largely differ from another, considering they both come from the same brewery.

Draught beer usually comes with the tap, but not everyone can afford a tap for a home bar so Guinness decided to bottle those so many can enjoy it. It skunks easier compared to the darker beers.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a beer glass with lots of ice.
  2. Pour in the blond lager then the draught.
  3. The resulting cocktail is layered with a lighter one on the bottom.

2. Guinness Newly Minted

It sounds like a new coin, but the name is actually a play on the mint, which is the essence on the crème de menthe. It gives a new character to an otherwise just bitter beer.

Containing 7.5% ABV, the Guinness Extra Stout traces its roots back in 1801 when it was first brewed by Arthur Guinness. Try using the Extra Stout with the Irish Car Bomb for a stronger kick. If you are not a fan of the extra stout, you can always choose draught. It works just as well.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a low-stemmed chalice with lots of ice.
  2. Add the crème de menthe.
  3. Add the Guinness Extra Stout.
  4. Garnish with a spanked mint for more aroma.

3. Guinness Parts Unknown

Blended rum, blackcurrant liqueur and the rest of the ingredients come together for a cocktail that will transport you out of this world - thus, parts unknown. The lemon juice and the orgeat bring back memories of the sour, only this one uses beer.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a shaker with lots of ice.
  2. Pour the ingredients into the shaker and give it a good shake.
  3. Strain into a highball glass .

4. St. James Flip

This frothy sweet cocktail is a true treat for those who want a bitter and sweet gustatory experience. Blackstrap rum is naturally sweet as it is made with black strap molasses as one of these ingredients.

Back then, the black strap rum is commonly smuggled that the patron has little to no chance of tracing its origins. The dark color of the black strap rum belies its sweetness and coupled with the condensed milk, it balances the strong body and bitterness of the Guinness Extra Stout.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a shaker with ice. Shake the egg vigorously until frothy.
  2. Strain it and add one half of the froth back into the shaker.
  3. Add the other ingredients, except the nutmeg and continue shaking.
  4. Strain into a wine glass.
  5. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

5. Guinness Irish Honey

The lovely honey flavor and aroma on the Bushmills is a slight upgrade to the classic version of this liquor. Add to it the creamy crème de cacao and you’re on the way to cocktail heaven.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a shaker with ice.
  2. Shake ingredients together.
  3. Strain into a martini glass .
  4. Garnish with The Spice Hunter Whole Nutmeg

6. Guinness Irish Summer

Ale is brewed differently than the lagers although they are both still beers. The lager uses bottom fermenting where the yeast is found at the bottom of the tank and it takes longer to ferment than the ales.

On the other hand, ale uses top fermenting where the yeast thrives in warm temperatures and takes shorter brewing time. Guinness is a type of an ale so substituting it with the Smithwick’s Irish Ale is a good choice.

Ingredients

  • 4 oz Italian orange soda
  • 8 oz Smithwick’s Premium Irish Ale

Instruction to make

  1. Fill a beer glass with lots of ice.
  2. Add the Italian orange soda and Irish ale.
  3. Stir and serve.

7. Guinness Bloody Mary

Who doesn’t love this brunch staple? Take it a notch higher by adding beer to the usual vodka. Known as the blank canvas of cocktails, the Bloody Mary surely welcomes this version.

Customize the garnishing according to your preference, although we kept it to the minimum here with just the lettuce.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a shaker with lots of ice.
  2. Add all the ingredients into the shaker.
  3. Give it a good shake until well chilled.
  4. Strain into a low-stemmed chalice .
  5. Garnish with lettuce.

8. Guinness Wilde Oscar Old Fashioned

This is the classic Old Fashioned recipe made better with Guinness, however, instead of using plain sugar, this one used simple syrup. There is not much sweetness in this cocktail.

However, if you like the taste of plain sugar better, take it to a higher level by wetting a sugar cube with the Angostura Bitters. Pour in the bourbon and Guinness, but don’t stir to just slowly release the sugar and the bitters.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Combine all the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass .
  2. Add lots of ice and stir.
  3. Garnish with a lemon slice.

9. Baby Guinness Shot

This baby doesn’t have any Guinness in it, but the coffee liqueur and Irish cream did it, being the main ingredients of the original Irish Car Bomb Cocktail. This is a layered drink, with the lighter colored Irish cream floating on the darker coffee liqueur.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Prepare a shot glass .
  2. Fill it with the coffee liqueur.
  3. Using a bar spoon, float on top of the coffee liqueur.

10. Guinness Black Russian

The classic Black Russian is a cocktail made from vodka and coffee liqueur. This recipe added Coke and Guinness to add more kick to the cocktail.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Add ice into an old-fashioned glass .
  2. Add all the ingredients.
  3. Stir and serve.

Guinness Dessert Cocktails

Gone are the days when dessert is only eaten. Frozen cocktails are the fad now. Adding ice cream to the usual Guinness cocktails adds the sweetness to the otherwise bitter cocktail.

11. Guinness Float

A bitter cocktail can be a bit overwhelming, much less drinking just the beer. The taste of Guinness can take time to develop, but adding ice cream takes the edge off from it.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Place two scoops of ice cream in an old-fashioned glass .
  2. Add the Irish cream and Guinness.
  3. Top with more ice cream.

12. Guinness Affogato

Affogato is a coffee-based dessert that takes a new life in this brewed coffee and Guinness dessert cocktail. This is a wonderful treat for brewed coffee lovers who love to indulge themselves. Instant coffee might work, but nothing beats the freshly brewed espresso.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Prepare the brewed coffee. Let cool.
  2. Fill a glass mug with the Guinness.
  3. Add two scoops of ice cream.
  4. Pour the coffee and the Irish cream on top of the ice cream.
  5. Stir to mix well and serve.

13. Chocolate Guinness Shooter

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Drizzle chocolate syrup on the inside of a shot glass.
  2. Add the ice cream into the glass.
  3. Add the Guinness and top with more chocolate syrup.
  4. Top with 1 tablespoon of whipping cream.

14. Guinness Red Velvet

The velvet is symbolic of opulence and decadence because only the well-off can afford the fabric bearing the name. The Red Velvet is among the pricier velvet fabrics, only after the purple one.

The smoothness of velvet is evoked in this beautiful cocktail with the addition of the champagne while its strength is celebrated by the Guinness. Just make sure everything is well chilled so you don’t need to add ice.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Fill a champagne glass with ice. Set aside until the glass sweats.
  2. Remove the ice and all the water in the glass.
  3. Add the Guinness and the champagne.
  4. Stir and serve.

15. Guinness Black Velvet

Another cocktail inspired by the fabric that is made fit for royalty - the Black Velvet. Its layered look reminds us of the gold-trimmed gowns of queens and duchesses in the middle ages. Use the sweet champagne to even out the bitter Guinness.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Tilt the wine glass while pouring the Guinness.
  2. Be careful for any froth or your Black Velvet will be a flop.
  3. Fill the champagne glass up to a third.
  4. Put the glass upright and let it settle for a while.
  5. Position a spoon large enough to fill the top of the glass. Then, slightly tilt the back of the spoon upwards.
  6. Slowly pour the champagne over the tilted spoon. Fill up until full.

16. Guinness Black and Tan

Dubbed as the poor man’s Black Velvet, this cocktail is the reverse of the Black Velvet method where the lighter liquor, this time a beer on the lower part of the cocktail. Make sure all the beers are very cold.

Ingredients

Steps to Make

  1. Tilt the beer glass and slowly pour the blonde lager, about half.
  2. Put it upright and let settle for a few beats.
  3. Position the spoon over the glass. Slightly tilt the back of the spoon up.
  4. Slowly and steadily pour the extra stout over the spoon until the glass is full.

Other Beer Cocktails You Might Love

For a beer lover like you, plan a get-together with old friends and throw the perfect Moscow Mule party! Similar to the Guinness Float, you can also indulge in this root beer float. Or try this selection of foods that go well with your favorite beer.

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