Nicole Loomis
To most of America, St. Patrick’s Day is about two things: making everything green, and alcohol. As a restaurant owner, you can turn both of those to your advantage. Stores and shops are already becoming saturated with green accessories — from clothes to necklaces, and every wearable item in between — so why not make one simple change to a beverage on your menu and cash in on this green cow? Let’s find out how you can add a touch of St. Patrick’s Day charm by incorporating wheatgrass juice into your beer.
Wheatgrass 101
Since customers are inevitably going to ask what makes your beer green — and many will most likely be concerned with unhealthy artificial dyes — we’re going to briefly explain why green wheatgrass beer is an excellent choice, both as a coloring agent and a standalone juice. For starters, wheatgrass offers a wealth of benefits: it is especially high in vitamins and minerals (specifically vitamins A, C, and E, as well as iron, magnesium, calcium and amino acids); it is rich in antioxidants which can help prevent heart disease, cancer, arthritis; and it reduces cholesterol. As the world becomes more health conscious, this naturally healthy additive is rapidly rising in popularity.
Leprechaun Lagers And Irish Stouts
The juice is easy to extract: simply strip the freshly sprouted leaves of the common wheat plant (or buy some at your local supermarket) and pop them into your wheatgrass juice extractor machineor commercial juicer machine, and then let ‘er rip. It’s important that you use automatic juicers because they separate the liquid juice from the solid wheatgrass leftovers, and blenders do not — the last thing your customers want is a mouthful of wheatgrass pulp!
Once your wheatgrass juice extractor machine has done its duty, the recipe is easy as shepherd’s pie. Add two tablespoons of your green wheatgrass juice to a light beer of your choice (you can even let your customers choose) and you’re done; nothing left to do but sit back while your customers enjoy their green wheatgrass beer and toast to their lucky Irish heritage.
