There’s a drink from the States known as an ‘Irish Car Bomb’, and it comes with its fair share of controversy.
The name, which is extremely offensive to many that suffered during The Troubles in Ireland is one that’s said to have caught on during the 1980s.
Although I hate the name, it’s a drink that we receive emails about constantly and, while you’ll find a recipe below, I’d recommend you refer to it as an ‘Irish Slammer’, instead.
What to know before making the Irish Slammer / Irish Car Bomb drink
So, there’s a few need-to-knows about this drink before you make it.
Take a couple of seconds to flick through them and pay particular attention to point one:
1. Warning(s)
The Irish car bomb drink in Ireland isn’t a thing – so don’t try and order one. At best, the bar tender won’t know what you mean. At worst, you’ll get a clip around the ears.
2. It can curdle
When the Baileys, Irish whiskey and Guinness combine, a curdling takes place. If you leave it sit, that is. This is a drink that’s meant to be knocked back in one go. Yes… one go.
3. Strength
The Irish Car Bomb recipe contains a lot of alcohol and it’s definitely not something you’ll be drinking on a casual night out. Please always drink responsibly. You can find milder Irish drinks in our guide to the best Irish cocktails.
Irish Slammer / Irish Car Bomb ingredients
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The ingredients for the Irish Car Bomb recipe couldn’t be more straight forward, and you can find each of them in most connivence stores, both online and offline:
- A can of Guinness
- Baileys Irish Cream Liquor
- An good Irish whiskey
How to make an Irish Car Bomb drink
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So, once you have your Irish Slammer / Irish car bomb ingredients together, it’s time to get rolling. Below, you’ll find 4 easy steps to make the drink:
Step 1: Chill your glass with some ice (optional)
So, you can leave this out if you like, but it’s a handy way of cooling your glass completely before you plop in the stout. You simply fill the glass with ice, place your hand over the top and then swirl the ice around the glass.
Do this for 15 – 20 seconds and then empty out the ice and the water.
Step 2: Add the stout
Next, 1/2 – 3/4 fill a glass with Guinness or with one of your favourite Irish stouts. As you need to chug/knock back this drink, it’s often easier if you only 1/2 fill the glass.
Step 3: Making the shot
The shot is the key component of the Irish Car Bomb drink. Take a shot glass and 1/2 fill it with one of your favourite Irish whiskey brands and fill the other half with Baileys Irish Cream.
If you want to be fancy, stick a spoon in the glass and then gently pour the Baileys down along the spoon. It should sit right on top of the whiskey.
Step 4: Drop it in and knock it back
Although we’d never usually recommend chugging, if you don’t knock back your Irish Car Bomb drink right after you drop the shot in, it’ll start to curdle and make it awful to drink.
Just be mindful of the fact that you’re drinking stout, whiskey and Baileys all in one go, so there’s a good kick off of it.
Discover more Irish cocktails
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Looking to sip away on some other cocktails like the Irish Slammer? Here’s some of our most popular drink guides to hop into:
- Best St Patrick’s Day Drinks: 17 Easy + Tasty St Patrick’s Day Cocktails
- 18 Traditional Irish Cocktails That Are Easy To Make (And Very Tasty)
- 14 Delicious Jameson Cocktails To Try This Weekend
- 15 Irish Whiskey Cocktails That’ll Tantalise Your Tastebuds
- 17 Of The Tastiest Irish Drinks (From Irish Beers To Irish Gins)
FAQs about the above Irish Car Bomb recipe
We’ve had a lot of questions over the years asking about everything from ‘What do they call an Irish Car Bomb drink in Ireland?’ (we don’t have it here!) to ‘What does an Irish Car Bomb taste like?’ (bad chocolate milk).
In the section below, we’ve popped in the most FAQs that we’ve received. If you have a question that we haven’t tackled, ask away in the comments section below.
Is it offensive to order an Irish Car Bomb cocktail?
In many parts of Ireland this will be seen as offensive. In fact, most places will never have heard of it.
What is the best Irish Car Bomb recipe?
Chill your glass and 1/2 fill it with stout. Then fill a shot glass with half whiskey and half Baileys. Drop the shot into the glass and drink.
Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent most of the last 10 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 30 million+ visitors along the way. In 2022, the Irish Road Trip team published the world’s largest collection of Irish Road Trip itineraries. Keith lives in Dublin with his dog Toby and finds writing in the 3rd person minus craic altogether.