Anecdote: Making Christmas Car Bombs

I challenged my dad two years ago to do an Irish Car Bomb with me on Christmas morning. It’s a simple drink, you just drop one shot of Baileys and one shot of Jameson into a glass of Guinness. It was just a joke, really and I didn’t think he’d do it. Come Christmas morning, as I prepared my coffee, it was him who came to me asking if it was going down. And man oh man did it go down. My brothers decided to join in on the action (my mom did the next year). As I went to prepare the shots, I immediately discovered a wrench in the operation — we didn’t have any Jameson. Surprisingly, my dad did not use this as an excuse to bow out. Instead, he found a much more intense solution. As opposed to one oz. of Jameson, he instead offered up his 12-year-old Glenfiddich Scotch. Both whiskeys are 40 per cent alcohol, but those that have tried scotch can agree that it is a bit rougher than an Irish whiskey. We lined our four shots up in our kitchen and down they went. Scotch is much denser, it would seem, than Baileys or Guinness. That is why when they were all poured in, the scotch seemed to sink and gather at the bottom of the glass. This resulted in a pleasant Baileys and Guinness mixture, followed by what felt like a punch in the face thanks to the scotch. I, being the binge-drinking university student I am, finished mine first. Shortly after, my older brother and my dad finished around the same time. My fourteen-year-old brother took a little longer to finish, being that it was his first Irish Car Bomb (age is no excuse). Thus, a tradition was born. Although we were able to improvise with the scotch, I would highly recommend sticking to the original recipe. Every December 25th, my family all drops one shot of Baileys and one shot of Jameson into a full pint (contrary to most recipes) of Guinness. The Guinness and Baileys are smooth and creamy, just like Christmas. The Jameson is doing God’s work though — the whiskey’s alcohol contribution gives you the docile patience that is necessary to deal with extended family, and that’s a Christmas miracle. The shot coupled with a fat turkey dinner will have you in an alcohol and tryptophan-induced coma in the early afternoon on the nearest flat surface you can find.