Saint Patrick’s Day, a day notorious for green, gatherings, and beer, is best celebrated while combining all three into one. Of course, there’s a deeper, richer history to the day, but if you’re not Irish, you’re most likely in it for the drinking — or the green, if that happens to be your favorite color.
And, if it is, or if you’re just in the mood to be festive, you’re probably looking for completely safe and entirely edible ways to turn your beer green. Well, you’re in the right place.
1. Matcha
I know, you’ve probably seen it at coffee shops and thought, “Oh, hell no.” But, matcha, aside from being very green, is very healthy. It contains most of the same antioxidants as green tea, boosts metabolism, detoxifies, and is rich in fiber — among many other things. It’s one of those “super foods” that’s become all the rage. And, it also happens to come in this powdered, radioactive shade of green that dissolves instantly in liquids like water.
Do you know any other liquids that happen to be like water? Ding. Ding. Ding. Beer. Put matcha in your beer! The recipe is as follows: half teaspoon of Mmtcha powder, splash of hot water, fill the rest of the glass with beer. Trial and error suggests drinkers should use Sapporo, but if you’re adventurous, try it with your favorite.
2. Chlorophyll
Yeah, it sounds gross, I know. Who would ever want to put Chlorophyll in their beer? For those who maybe didn’t pay attention in science class, it’s the green pigments found in algae and plants. This is what allows plants to absorb rays from the Sun. It also happens to be sold in small bottles, accompanied by droppers, for health-purposed consumption. But, you can also drop it into your beer just the same, and the final product is a green beer good enough for day-long drinking.
You simply take a beer — any beer works according to general consensus — and add five to ten drops of the stuff. Some beers may take a little more than five to get the proper shade. Obviously, this won’t work on darker beers.
3. Food Coloring
This is the obvious one. It’s the classic, the trusty steed. But, where it shines in reliability, it lacks in adventurousness. There’s going to be thousands, maybe even millions of people dying their beer green with food coloring. Why not try a less traditional method? It could even be a conversation starter. How many people have you met who said, “I dyed my beer green with Matcha.” Sure, you may look at them like, “What the?” but then you’ll be intrigued, tempted, even convinced to try the beer.
But, if you’re not up for an experiment, this one’s your best bet.
