Guinness & Matcha Ice Cream Float

St. Patrick’s Day is upon us! Irish eyes are smiling, beer is flowing, and green is everyone’s favorite color.

Brad and I celebrated with our friends this past weekend by going to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Omotesando. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the streets were lined with people from all over the world who felt, at least for one day, that they were Irish. It was quite the sight to see. I never would have guessed that St. Patty’s Day would be celebrated in the streets of Tokyo. It was a pleasant surprise that made me miss my Grandma Cahill’s bright Irish-blue eyes and my Dad’s witty humor (reminiscent of a mischievous leprechaun!) What did you do (or are you planning to do) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Did you go to a parade? Drink a special beer? I’d love to hear what you wonderful people around the world have up your sleeves!

When I was a little girl, I used to wake up on St. Patrick’s Day with butterflies in my stomach. I would get up, stumble down the stairs into the kitchen, and look for the small green “footprints” that started on the kitchen floor and crept up the refrigerator door. Then, I’d take out the carton of milk, begin to pour it over my cereal to find that it had transformed over night into a light green color. Leprechauns had invaded our home! Basically, my mom took green food coloring, put it on her finger tips, and “walked” around the kitchen, convincing my sister and I that there were leprechauns scurrying around throughout the night. This tradition lasted quite a while. I’m pretty sure my friends all thought I was nuts when I told them Leprechauns turned our milk green and left footprints all over our kitchen. At first, they all thought it was so cool that I had Leprechauns in my house on St. Patrick’s Day. But when I started getting that don’t-get-too-close-she-might-be-crazy kind of look from my peers, I decided to stop pretending.

These days, I celebrate with friends, a nice tall Guinness, and perhaps a green shirt. Not as much fun as footprints and green milk, but it’ll do. This year, I wanted to add a Japanese spin on the holiday and decided to make an ice cream float. Matcha (green tea) ice cream, with its creamy green color, was the perfect choice. Paired with rich, dark Guinness beer, the ice cream float looked and tasted like St. Patrick’s Day. The combination might seem strange at first, but Brad and I both really liked the flavors. The matcha ice cream was gentle, slightly sweet and earthy which paired perfectly with the flavors in the Guinness. If you’re not quite that adventurous, you can use vanilla, chocolate and/or coffee ice cream instead. Coffee ice cream really enhances the natural coffee-like notes the are present in a dark beer like Guinness. For you Coloradans (or New Belgium lovers) out there, 1554 from New Belgium Brewery would also be a great beer to use. To add the green color, some crushed pistachios would be a nice addition.

So, here’s to being Irish (which I am proud to say is a large part of my heritage)! Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Tokyo, Japan!

Tagged as: Cocktails, Dessert