Whiskey and Red

Ireland's beloved whiskey highball using red lemonade, a uniquely Irish soft drink that creates a sweeter, more complex mixer than American sodas.

Whiskey and Red is one of the most specifically Irish casual cocktail traditions — Irish whiskey combined with red lemonade, a sweetened carbonated lemon-flavored beverage with a distinctive red color that exists commercially almost exclusively in Ireland. Red lemonade is produced in Ireland by several regional brands including Club Orange's red lemonade, Nash's, Finches, and most recognizably TK (Taylor Keith) Red Lemonade, whose product has been widely available in Irish pubs and shops for generations. The drink differs in character from the clear lemon-lime sodas familiar internationally: Irish red lemonade has a specific sweetness profile and an artificial coloring that makes it visually distinctive when combined with amber whiskey. The Jameson-and-red or Paddy-and-red combination became a standard informal Irish pub order from at least the 1980s onward, and red lemonade is available on draught in many Irish pubs specifically because of demand for the combination. For the Irish diaspora in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and beyond, the unavailability of red lemonade outside Ireland is one of the most consistently cited food-and-drink items missed from home.