Howya Este......it's similar to moonshine in america, which the Irish introduced there..
How poitín went from illegal moonshine to being sold in Tesco
It is traditionally one of the most potent alcohol drinks on the planet, but poitín is having something of a moment with a whole new generation of drinkers.
Nov 17 8:30 PM 51,897 Views 55 Comments
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Image: Kiinqueen via Flickr/Creative Commons
HERE ARE THREE things you may not have known about poitín.
One: It is one of the most strongly alcoholic drinks on the planet. Homemade poitín can be anywhere between 50 and 90 per cent alcohol by volume (just to put that in context, an average beer is around 4 to 6 per cent and whiskey is roughly 40 per cent). Two: The first record of it is from the 6th century but it was illegal in Ireland for 300 years and was only legalised in 1997.
And three: purists may not like it but poitín is shedding its reputation as illegal moonshine and is for sale (legally) in shops and pubs around the country, where it is becoming increasingly popular with a whole new generation of drinkers.
“Everyone has a story about poitín. Everybody does” says Gary Gartland of Coomara Irish Spirits.
For a lot of people, poitín has certain connotations. Homemade. Kept on a shelf in a house to be taken out occasionally. Highly, highly alcoholic, and maybe even possibly illness-inducing, depending on what exactly was in it – poitín was generally made out of whatever materials were plentiful, so everything from potatoes to crab apples to barley has been used.
However as lots of other once old-fashioned Irish products have already made something of a comeback during the recession, poitín is having a little moment itself.
The comeback
There are at least five companies in Ireland now selling poitín which can be bought in pubs and off-licences, while London cocktail bar Shebeen is selling eight different types of poitín, including one version made from potatoes in San Francisco. Irish company Coomara Irish Spirits recently made the biggest ever legal shipment of poitín to supermarket chain Tesco, which began stocking the spirit earlier this year.
“What we’ve seen in the past few months since we started selling it is that people are curious and that’s why they’re ordering it,” says Paddy, the bar manager at popular pub Against the Grain on Dublin’s Wexford Street.
A few people have said that real poitín has to be illegal, but we’ve been trying to them how it’s distilled and properly made.
Illegal poitín is, of course, still popular but the scale of it is difficult to estimate. Just over two weeks ago Revenue Commissioner officials seized a fully operational mini-distillery – including 900 empty bottles – in Cavan.
