I think I invented a tasty adult beverage several years ago, in one of the precursors of the Jeremy-Gilby-dot-Compound.

One evening, The-Roommate-Formerly-Known-as-Matthew-Maynard was trying to find a reason to consume a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps that he had acquired, he handed the bottle to me and said, “Make something.”
(I like to attribute this moment as the start of my amateur bartending career.)

I was young, in my bartending skills, but I had the bare-bones basics of a liquor cabinet at the time. I thought about it, and shrugged, and took a risk, I grabbed a single bottle, and a glass, and poured the two ingredients in. I took a sip, and was impressed.

I almost didn’t give the glass to Matt, it was that tasty.

I kept this drink in my back pocket for years. Occasionally pouring another for enjoyment on warm days. I served it at parties, and everyone liked it.

Eventually, I came up with a name for it.

One recent party, one of my circle of friends who appreciates my love for bartending asked for a beverage that was not too strong, but tastes good.

I pulled the two bottles out, and added ice, and served it. She took a sip and smiled, “This is perfect. What is it called?”
“I made it myself.” I boasted, “I think I’ll call it the Irish Pirate.”

Now, at parties, she always requests it, and recommends it to her friends. Her husband prefers my Whiskey Sours and the Margaritas.

To be sure, I scoured the online Bartending guides, and even the hardcopy ones, and I could not find a single beverage with these two ingredients, alone. I’m pretty sure I’ve got an original, or at least something that no one has published before…

So here it is:

The Irish Pirate

In and Old Fashioned Glass add the following:

• One Part Peppermint Schnapps
• One Part Silver/White Rum (Bacardi Rum is preferred)

Optional: Pour both ingredients over ice to make cold (and less strong to the tongue)

And that is it!

It is surprisingly refreshing, and tasty.

Though, I’m concerned that some others in my circle of friends call this beverage the “Gay Pirate”.

I call it the Irish Pirate because of the presence of the Rum (Pirate) and the Peppermint (Irish), I don’t know why that when I think of Peppermint, I think of a four-leaf-clover. But the name works.

I used this name convention in another beverage I was introducing to my circle of friends, the Caipirinha, and to introduce my friends to Cachaça, I poured a single serving of the Cachaça, for everyone to taste. It was not liked, as expected, but knowing how it was related to Rum, I quickly added an equal portion of Peppermint Schnapps.
Everyone enjoyed it.
I hesitantly called this creation the Brazilian Pirate (as Cachaça is from Brazil) but quickly remembered that there was no rum. So I quickly changed the drink name to “The Irish Brazilian.”

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