The perfect pint of Guinness

IT’S ALMOST ST. PATrick’s Day, so allow me to talk about a few things concerning Guinness (and one thing about Jameson).

Some folks may scoff, but there *is* a proper way to pour a pint of Guinness, and it does take a few minutes. That’s why in the busier Irish bars at peak times, you will see bartenders starting to pour them before they’re even ordered — because they know they will be sold within a minute or two.

I won’t give a step-by-step guide on how to pull a perfect pint, but you can see that on the internet at youtu.be/ Myqk3Vl2oQA

The end result should be a picturesque pint filled about ⅞ to the top with the black stuff, crowned with a creamy 2 centimeter head that may slightly rise above the edge of the glass. but whose surface tension holds it without running over the sides of the glass.

Speaking of Guinness, the tradition of drawing a shamrock on the top of the head isn’t much of anything I’ve ever seen in Ireland. I suspect it’s an Irish-American tradition. Perhaps in some trendier bars in Ireland they’ve caved into this activity, but I am guessing that happened because of American tourists asking for it. To me, it somewhat ruins the pure satin perfection of the surface.

Oh, and one more thing about Guinness. The stereotype that the Irish are drunks who spend their days in pubs makes my eyes roll in my head. Certainly Ireland has its percentage of alcoholics and drunks. But you’ll find that most cultures can be stereotyped in this way. A report in 2021 showed that while Ireland has heavy alcohol consumption, plenty of other countries have heavier