The social drinker

Ienjoy browsing in a good off-licence as much as I like doing so in bookshops and used to like doing in record shops, when they were a thing. One of Dublin’s best places to browse spirits is undoubtedly the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dawson Street, and it was here that I came across Cocalero for the first time the other day. Knowledgeable store manager Shane McDonagh said the bright-green South American “herbal spirit” is flying off the shelves because drinkers in their 20s have developed a passion for the stuff, and are getting bored of gin.

Cocalero is a curious drink; invented by an Irishman called John Ralph living in Shanghai, and made using extracts from South American coca plants. Ralph, incidentally, is one of those entrepreneurial people responsible for the rickshaws which used to plague the capital until the financial crash reminded us all that having a fellow human being carry you around is plain wrong.

While coca plants have long been the target of US drug enforcement officials battling cocaine production in South America, a by-product of the coca plant is used in both the manufacture of Cocalero and a well-known sugary brown soft drink. Taste-wise, the two drinks are clearly related, although Cocalero has a much more complex taste, thanks to its 16 botanicals, including Amazonian guarana, ginseng, ginger and green tea.

According to McDonagh, Cocalero, which has an alcohol content of just 29pc, is replacing gin among many Irish drinkers. It can be drunk neat or used in mixers rather like gin, vodka or tequila.

I tried it in a Dublin bar, served ice-cold with a wedge of fresh lime, and it worked well, but then, I like a Coke now and again.

I’m probably too old, but Cocalero is not a drink I’d drink more than once in a evening, but it was a refreshing and less potent alternative to tequila. Worth a shot.