~Key Topics Covered: Irish Pub Etiquette, Bar Etiquette, Guinness Etiquette, Irish Drinking Toasts
Ireland is world famous for its pubs, and lively drinking culture in general. The pubs, or public houses, are age old Irish meeting venues where people have enjoyed good pints with good friends for generations. If you are interested in traveling to Ireland to partake in all the fun for yourself, there are a few things you’ll need to know about both beer and pub traditions before you go!
1.Drinks are ordered in rounds.
Going up to the bar and ordering for yourself without getting drinks for the rest of the group is a big no-no in Ireland. Drinking is not an “every man for himself” system, but rather an “every man covers one round” type of deal. You still pay the same amount, as everyone MUST cover a round. This seems to allow friends to stay together chatting, instead of having everyone in the group regularly breaking off to fill their pint.
You also have to have each order in the round ready to say at a moment's notice, as no bartender will wait for you to dilly-dally. Bartenders are not tipped by customers in the same style as other countries, so they are much less inclined to coddle you and wait for your order in the name of friendly service. You have to order quickly and efficiently for the whole group, right when the bartender lands on you.
2.You cannot take a Guinness from the bartender before it is settled.
Guinness is arguably Ireland's most famous beer, and maybe even their most famous export in general! That means if one thing is for sure, it's that the Irish do not take serving a pint of Guinness lightly. Settling is just one step, even though there are six official steps to pouring a pint of the brown substance. These six steps are even confirmed by the Guinness Storehouse itself. You can trust your bartender to know the first five steps, but this last one is all up to you! You have to patiently time your first sip just right, giving the drink enough time to settle once it's been served to you. Guinness has a famous “head”, or foam at the top, which covers the drinking portion of the dark stout. The head takes a few seconds to correctly form and separate from the rest of the drink, and it is a serious party foul to take a sip before the head has fully formed. It's a famous rule of thumb that the proper time to give a pint for settling is 119 seconds… exactly (Forbes, 2016). If you can’t whip out your timer to count the seconds, a good tip I’ve learned is to hold off drinking until the bottom of the stout is dark brown, the inch below the head has a few bubbles still rising, and the head itself is nicely defined. Bartenders everywhere may say i’m a fool, but that is my favorite time to take a sip, as that seems to me the time when the chocolate and coffee tasting notes come through the most. Regardless of opinion, if you take a sip while the bottom of the drink is still full of rising bubbles, and there is no clear line at the bottom of the head, you may very well be yelled at by the crowd around you. I once tried to pick up my still-settling Guinness from the bar, and the bartender flicked my hand! Good things come to those who wait, and potential embarrassment comes to those who don’t!
Link to Forbes article on pouring a perfect Guinness:
3.The Irish equivalent of “cheers” is “sláinte”.
Before taking your first sip of your beer, it is an unwritten rule that the group must do a toast to this Gaelic phrase meaning “health”. Sláinte is pronounced “slawn-che”, or in my personal phonetics “su-lawn-chuh”. A good tip, as a Dubliner once explained it to me, is to think “its like cilantro with a J”! This word is used as a drinking toast across all of Ireland, so remember to do this toast to health before each round of drinks, unless you really want to stick out like a sore thumb.
Now that you know how to order, when to drink, and what to toast to, you are fully prepared to drink the night away at any Irish pub! Feel free to go grab a Guinness, craft beer, or even one of Ireland’s many famous whiskeys with a group worthy of toasting to. Just remember to always be safe and drink responsibly! Sláinte!
Written by Emma Matthews
27 Jan. 2020