Green Demon

Irish whiskey, Midori, and citrus — Suntory's Studio 54-launched (1978) muskmelon liqueur making Irish whiskey green for St. Patrick's Day.

The Green Demon combines Irish whiskey with Midori melon liqueur and citrus to produce a vividly colored cocktail whose green hue makes it a natural St. Patrick's Day offering. Midori — the Japanese word for green — is a muskmelon liqueur produced by Suntory using two premium Japanese melon varieties: Yubari King from Hokkaido and Earl's Favorite. Suntory launched Midori in the United States with a party at Studio 54 in New York City in June 1978, the most famous discotheque in the world at the time, co-owned by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. The combination of Irish whiskey's amber warmth with Midori's vivid green produces a cocktail that reads as definitively Irish in color regardless of the spirits' actual geographic origins. Irish whiskey's commercial history was severely disrupted through the 20th century: the industry that had dominated global whiskey consumption in the late 19th century was reduced to just three operating distilleries by the 1980s, with consolidation leaving only Jameson/Midleton, Bushmills, and Cooley producing Irish whiskey. The subsequent revival — driven initially by Jameson's successful international marketing and later by the opening of dozens of new independent distilleries from the 2010s onward — created a more diverse Irish whiskey landscape against which cocktails like the Green Demon found a natural market.