The University of Ottawa’s guide to … a successful St Patrick’s Day
Irish I was drunk! The wait is over and St. Patty’s Day is just around the corner. With what some call the best drinking day of the year coming up on Sunday there are some tips and tricks to help you have the best St. Patrick’s Day ever.
Choose the right drink:
St. Patty’s day is the one day a year when drinking green beverages is a must! Here are some tips to enhancing your drinks to fit the theme.
How to make green beer:
Only use green food coloring. Stick with the green food colouring that comes in the squeeze bottles. Adding blue to yellow beer may seem like genius idea but you’ll end up with turquoise or off green beer.
1. Use light-colored beer. The lighter the beer, the brighter the colour. A dark beer will require more food colouring and too much food colour leads to a green teeth!
2. Add beer to the coloring. To avoid flat beer, grab a large mug, and squeeze in 3- 5 drops of green food colouring. Slowly pour beer from the bottle or can into the glass. Watch the color mix as the beer goes in. If this is not green enough for you feel free to add a few more drops into the drink. Remember putting the beer in first and stirring is a no go, as it will lead to flat beer! Finally, left over food colouring? Add it to pancakes or anything else you’re going to indulge in the rest of the day!
Not a beer drinker? No problem!
Skittles Vodka and Jolly Rancher Vodka are both great tasting while sticking with the green!
Making Skittles Vodka is easy all you need is a coffee filter, a lot of green skittles and vodka. First you dissolve all the skittles in the vodka, which make take a day or two. Next there will be a layer of film on top, which can be removed by filtering the vodka through a coffee filter. Next put it in the freezer for another day and you are ready to go!
Jolly Rancher vodka is even easier than Skittles vodka! All you need to do is put the Jolly Ranchers in the bottle and let it sit for about twelve hours, once they are dissolved throw it in the freezer and you are ready to go! The best thing about these two mixes is they are so sweet you can drink them by themselves!
Picking out your swag for the day:
Remember, the tackier the better. St. Patty’s is all about looking ridiculous and having fun! Get as many accessories as possible and dress weather appropriate. Since most people start bright and early remember sunglasses are a key to a great day!
Rest up the night before and have a plan
It is always good to have a tentative plan. Although roaming around Sandy Hill is what most people do it is also to have an idea of what you want to be doing later in the day. This allows you to work in any naps or breaks for food, which will allow you to keep the party going. When going to a pancake kegger the earlier the better. There is nothing worse than showing up to a dry keg!
Pace yourself
It is not a race. Actually it is, look at it as a race to make it through the whole day and night. Day drinking is tricky and not everyone can make it through the whole day. Have faith in yourself and know your limits. No one wants to be snoozing by 3pm when the party is just getting good!
I hope that St. Patty’s 2013 will be one for the books. Enjoy being Irish for a day and please remember TO DRINK RESPONSIBLY AND HAVE A FUN AND SAFE ST. PATTY’S!
Photo credits:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Unusual-St-Patricks-Day-Celebrations.html