It’s the night for Irish brew and all things green, so sidle up and grab a Guinness. Or, if you’re feel fancy pants, order up a beer cocktail like an Irish Car Bomb, a Black and Tan, or even a childhood favorite gone alcoholic, the Guinness float (I’ll take mine with coffee ice cream, thanks). Those are all nice and fine, but I’m always in search for the unknown, unpopular, or just unacknowledged and this holiday I’ve got my sites on the Black Velvet. A blend of bubbly and brew, it’s sour like a gueuze lambic, full-bodied from the beer, and a beauty to look at, and it’s my chosen date for tonight’s festivities.

Black Velvet

1 part chilled Guinness

1 part chilled brut sparkling wine

Pour the Guinness into a chilled pint glass and let the foam subside. Place a spoon on the inside of the glass, horizontal to the beer, and pour the bubbly over the spoon so as to encourage the wine to float on top of the beer. Drink, refill, repeat.