Black and Black

An Irish pub staple combining Guinness stout with blackcurrant cordial to soften the bitter bite, creating a sweeter, fruitier pint with a purple hue.

Black and Black -- also called Guinness & Black or simply Guinness & Black Currant in Irish pub shorthand -- is a simple pub modification that adds blackcurrant cordial to a pint of draught Guinness, softening the stout's roasted bitterness with a measure of fruity sweetness. The combination emerged in Irish public houses during the mid-20th century, when flavored cordials such as blackcurrant, lime, and orange became a common bar fixture, giving bartenders and customers a simple way to adjust a pint's flavor and sweetness to taste. Guinness was first brewed by Arthur Guinness at the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin in 1759, when Guinness signed a famous 9,000-year lease on the premises -- a detail that became one of the most cited facts in Irish brewing history. The dry stout he developed, characterized by roasted unmalted barley that gives the beer its near-black color and bitter coffee notes, has been produced continuously at St. James's Gate ever since. Blackcurrant cordial -- a concentrated, sweetened blackcurrant syrup -- has been produced commercially in Britain and Ireland since the 19th century, and Ribena, introduced by H.W. Carter & Company in the 1930s using blackcurrants grown in the West Country, became the category's defining brand. The name Black and Black refers directly to the dark color of both components -- the black stout and the deep purple-black cordial -- and the resulting purple-tinged pint is distinctly more approachable than straight Guinness for drinkers who find the stout too bitter or too dry at full strength. The format has been common in Irish pubs for decades, particularly popular with younger drinkers being introduced to stout.