Irish Car Bombs, Corned Beef & Cabbage — St. Paddy’s Day Must Haves

If you don't consume the holiday required minimum of one plate of corned beef & cabbage and one Irish Car Bomb, then you may as well not wear green and get yourself pinched to death while you're at it.

This poor lady eats her corned beef out of Styrofoam alone at her desk. Don't be a loner, get some grub at one of these fine Missoula establishments!

When I was a kid, my grandma always made corned beef on St. Paddy's Day. Cooking a meal that makes the entire house smell like 6,000 farts were just released from a demonic gas balloon is not the best way to encourage the fam to try your special holiday treats. So I never did try it. Until sometime around high school, and you know what, it's not too damn bad. The cabbage is nasty, but necessary for proper flavoring, but the beef itself is pretty good and you gotta serve it with potatoes. You cannot serve a proper Irish meal without spuds. I heart spuds.

Equally as important as sporting green and filling up on cabbage is the consumption of a St. Patrick's Day Irish Car Bomb. As far as I'm concerned, anytime is a good time for an Irish Car Bomb, they're FUN and YUMMY, 2 requirements for any holiday drink. My very first Car Bomb was with about a dozen Queens Of The Stone Age fans and Joshua Homme and Jesse "The Devil" Hughes at Sean Kelly's. I didn't know what the Hell it was but when Josh Homme hands you a drink, you drink it.

There are two ways to serve the Car Bomb. As a shot all mixed together, or the more traditional, and my favorite way, as a glass of Guiness & a shot. According to Wikipedia:

"It is made with Irish stout, Irish cream, and Irish whiskey.

The whiskey is floated on top of the Irish Cream in a shot glass, and the shot glass is then dropped into the stout. Once mixed, it must be drunk quickly because it will curdle. While Kahlúa was part of the original recipe, it is often excluded from the drink today. Some refer to that original recipe as a Belfast Car Bomb."

And WHY is it called a Car Bomb? There are several different theories but my favorite one comes from KC, which is (and this was while lifting his 3rd Bomb in less than 15 minutes) "it's a Car Bomb because the alcohol doesn't hit you until like a half an hour later when you're in your car and you realize you shouldn't be driving".

By the way, we always encourage a Designated Driver here at The Blaze. Don't get car bombed, call a taxi (543-6644) or make sure to download the Uber app BEFORE you go out.

Great places in Missoula to get your St. Paddy's Day grub and drink on.