International Poitín Day – the 24 hours we set aside each year to honour the rebellious souls who kept the spirit alive through its forbidden dark days – returned for its fourth rendition on 18th November.
First celebrated right here at The Sun Tavern, this year it expanded its reach far beyond the streets f Bethnal Green, across the Irish Sea, and into the finest drinking holes of Dublin, Belfast, Cork & Galway.
We ourselves hosted four Poitín brands at the forefront of the illicit spirit’s revival – Micil Poitín, Glendalough, Mad March Hare & Ban Poitín – who were all heavily featured on our £6 bespoke cocktail list for the eve.
And what a line-up it was: we had classics in the form of Cold Brew Irish Coffee, featuring a healthy glug of Ban Poitín, and our twisted take on the Bloody Mary – the Bloody Murphy, with Glendalough Poitín doing the legwork.
Besides this, we had the decidedly more contemporary Poitín Mule – made using a healthy measure of Mad March Hare Poitín, topped with alcoholic ginger beer courtesy of our mates over at Umbrella Brewing.
And our offerings for the puritanical amongst us were the Plain & Simple – a measure of Micil Poitín and a good ol’ pint of stout – and straight-up Flight of Four, a shot from each brand, to get punters where they needed to go.
We also had a Poitín tasting earlier on in the day, absolutely free on a first-come first-serve basis. So you could say the pure drop was certainly flowing, and it went down a treat with our guests who damn near drank us dry.
Beyond Bethnal Green, and beyond the Irish Sea, there were plenty more raucous celebrations for those passionate about Poitín. A big thanks to One Goose Entry in Belfast, Jimmy Rabbittee’s in Dublin, Micil Distillery & Oslo Bar in Galway, and Cask Cork in.. erm, Cork, for taking part and helping boost the profile of this most boozy of holidays.
So that’s another year gone by, and another day of Poitín appreciation under our collective belts. We had a cracking time raising a glass of the pure drop with ya all, and hope that you did to.
‘Til next year. Slainté.