Anyone who has joined in on New York City’s St Patrick’s celebrations will tell you it is a day where the partiers are all in. Starting mid-morning, the best Irish bars will be warming up to a raucous day of hard-core drinking and revelry. If you are looking to catch the parade, make sure to arrive an hour or two early. Parade starts at 11am on 44th Street and goes up to 79th Street, via Fifth Avenue, until 4:30 in the afternoon. Due to street closures, it is best to take mass transit and walk to Fifth Avenue. 

For those looking for a more reposed celebration, what follows are some ideas for creating an energizing cocktail and accompany it with some traditional, and not-so-traditional, Irish sweets. 

See more of Hobnob’s St Patrick’s Day ideas at these posts: hilarious Irish toasts to make the day even more fun, an assortment of Irish Whiskey Cocktails, and a Pure Irish Guide to St. Patrick’s Day with recommendations by the owners of Dead Rabbit.

Coffee Cocktails

Kick off St Patrick’s Day with stiff Irish coffee cocktails and keep up your party energy. These two recipes start with a special base: coffee, from volcanic regions around the globe. Volcanica is a specialty coffee roaster that imports more than 150 exotic beans. This Costa Rican family-run business works directly with coffee farms and cooperatives, thereby supporting local communities. Feel free to explore the world with coffees in different categories like Estate coffee, the rich and smooth Peaberry, or Low Acid varieties. You can order online, and once you find your favorite, subscribe and save 10%. volcanicacoffee.com

VOLCANICA COFFEE’S IRISH ESPRESSO MARTINI

1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
.5 oz coffee liqueur
.5 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
2 oz espresso using Volcanica Coffee’s Café Cubano Miami Espresso Blend, cooled
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In a shaker glass, pour in your ingredients. Fill with ice and shake until shaker is frosty. Strain into martini glass.

VOLCANICA COFFEE’S IRISH COFFEE

2 oz heavy cream, very cold
1.5-2 oz Irish whiskey, to taste
1 TB brown sugar
4 oz fresh-brewed Dark Roast Costa Rica Nespresso Coffee Pods
garnish: unsweetened cocoa powder
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Fill coffee cups with hot water to warm them up. Whip the cold cream until thick, but not stiff; it should still be able to run off of a spoon. (The key to success for whipped cream is to keep it very cold, so put your whisk and a stainless steel bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before whipping.) Set aside. 

Pour the warm water out of the coffee mugs. Fill three-quarters full with coffee, add brown sugar and stir well until dissolved. Add a few drops of coffee into the whipped cream and stir to combine.

Add the whiskey into coffee and stir to combine.

Hold a spoon upside down over the coffee, the tip touching the glass edge and the surface of coffee. Gently pour the cream over the back of the spoon, allowing it to gently pool on top of the coffee; filling to the top of the mug. Do not stir. You should obtain a lovely layering that looks like a pint of Guiness.

Using a shamrock stencil, sprinkle cocoa powder over the cream for the final touch.

Get Your Irish Soda Bread

Padoca is your friendly Brazilian neighborhood bakery, specializing in traditional Brazilian sweets and more. They’re getting into the swing of things for the holiday. For St. Patrick’s Day they will be baking traditional Irish soda bread, in addition to some other delectable sweeter things, like their Clover Cake, Red Velvet brownies with cream and green sprinkles, or their Brazilian brigadeiros, with a colorful Irish twist. Two locations on the Upper East Side.  

Padoca Bakery, 210 E. 67th Street (betw 2nd/3rd Ave) and 1663 First Avenue (corner 87th St)

Mary O’s This East Village favorite gets overwhelmed this time of year. Order their in-demand Irish scones and you will be the belle of the ball. To learn more about Mary O’, check out this heartwarming story from the Irish Post, explaining how the scones saved Mary from pandemic disaster. 

Mary O’s, 32 Avenue A (betw 2nd/3rd Ave)

South Street Seaport

If you want to stay away from the midtown frenzy, then a trip down to the Seaport can still deliver St Patrick’s Day photo-worthy delights, as seen in the photo at the top of this post. Lucky Pastries will be offering an assortment of sweets with a green theme: 4 Leaf Clover Cupcakes, Green Mint Crinkle Cookies, and Pistachio Croissants. March 16 and 17. 

Mister Dips will be shaking it up with their chocolate-y malt shake, The Patty’s Boozy Doozy, whose alcoholic ingredient is stout. 

Malibu Farm’s specialty cocktail, Green Grass, High Tides is made with Dewar’s Blended Scotch, Green Chartreuse, Limoncello, Midori, and lemon with a microgreen garnish. March 17 through 19.

South Street Seaport, 89 South Street (gps Fulton & Water Streets), Pier 17