Cocktails are always my drink of choice. A sweet and fruity concoction, filled with syrupy spirits and colourful juices. A classy daiquiri, an ice cold mojito, or a fun woo woo with umbrellas, straws and fruit perched on top. But on our recent trip to Dublin cocktails were far from my mind.
Ireland is the home to Guinness but this dry stout, one of the world’s biggest beer brands, is nothing like the sugary cocktails I usually go for. Unsurprisingly, a big part of the Irish culture is drinking and in every single pub we visited pints of Guinness were being sold like the city was about to run dry. I had never tasted a single drop of the black stuff and, while I could easily have stuck to drinking Baileys all weekend, I just couldn’t visit Dublin without trying something that is such a huge part of the Irish culture.
As soon as we stepped into the Storehouse and made our way up the long escalator, I could see why so many people had recommended this as THE attraction to visit in Dublin. We stared up in wonder at the seven floors of all things Guinness that towered above us and the gift store laid out in front of us with untold items sporting Guinness’s name.
It was like the fully fermented alcoholic version of Disney World. Whether you like Guinness or not this place certainly has something to keep everyone entertained.
As we made our way around we came across something different on every floor from finding out about how the stout was first created and brewed at the Storehouse in 1759 to how it has become world famous, with 10 million pints of Guinness being drank every single day all over the world.
We had some fun checking out the brand’s advertising through the years from statues of seals, toucans and giant ticking clocks to a huge cinema screen, and then we spent far too long posing for some silly pics in the Guinness Photo Booth.
We stopped at the café half way up (yes, the place is so big that you need a stop!) where I tried some Guinness crisps to ease myself into the taste before we got onto the hard stuff. The crisps were delicious – tasted slightly like Marmite to me and we all know that Marmite is the best thing ever.
After going up what seemed like an endless amount of escalators, we came to the main part of the attraction and the reason everyone was here…to taste the Guinness. But before we could do that we had to learn how to create the perfect pint ourselves in the Guinness Academy.
Once we had the perfect consistency and the right amount of foam on top (you can tell I’m not a beer drinker when I call it foam) we received a geeky certificate just to prove we had poured the perfect pint.
I very hesitantly tried my first sip (my face below shows what I was expecting!) and I was actually pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t say it was the nicest drink I’ve ever had (because nothing beats a pina colada) but it was nowhere near as bitter and heavy as I was expecting it to be.
With drinks in hand we made our way up to the Gravity Bar on the busy top floor. We managed to find ourselves a spot by the window and sipped our pints while looking out over the gorgeous view of the city of Dublin.
I may not have been able to get through the whole pint, but I’m glad to say that I tried one of Ireland’s biggest productions and it did taste a lot better than I had been expecting! Plus we had a ridiculously fun afternoon working our way around the Storehouse in the meantime.
As they say in Ireland…Sláinte! (Cheers!)
Have you ever tried Guinness? Let me know what you thought of Ireland’s national drink in the comments below!
Thank you to the Guinness Storehouse who hosted our trip. Make sure you pay them a visit when you’re in Dublin.
Mama Ayla's Adventures 
I think that’s where I first tried Guinness and I didn’t particularly like it, I think I’ll stick to wine and champagne!
Lots of love,
Angie
I wasn’t a huge fan Angie, I’d prefer wine and champagne (or cocktails!) like you but we were in Ireland so I had to give it a try!
I’m a complete Wine and Cocktails girl myself, but would definitely try Guinness if I’m ever in Ireland! Looks like you had a fun day out 🙂
Same but it was a really fun day! You have to try all the culinary delights when you travel and that goes for the drinks as well as the food!
I actually quite like Guinness…in small doses though! I was at a restaurant in NYC a few months back and they had Guinness cupcakes which were uh-mazing 😍
Kam xo
A Married Couple & Their Travels
Guinness cupcakes?! Now they sound drool worthy!!
Hehe, I did chuckle when I saw a whole post about Guinness so soon after your whole post about wine, I’m sensing a bit of a trend here 😀 But in all seriousness, this looks like so much fun! When I was in Edinburgh once, I visited a whisky factory even though I couldn’t really drink any of it, perhaps a bit pointless but it was fun learning about it in any case! I can’t believe 10 million pints are drunk a day!!
Hey look, wine is the drink of choice in Italy and Guinness is the drink in Ireland. I obviously couldn’t visit either place without trying such a popular part of the culture could I? 😉 I think even I would have avoided the whiskey though as I hate the stuff. But the Storehouse was super fun even if you don’t drink! And yup, despite the Irish accent Alex and I both watched the video a couple of times and 10 million pints are definitely drunk every day around the world! I would guess most of those are in Ireland!
Love Guinness – though I’m sure it’s true that it tastes much better in Ireland, so probably don’t give it a try back home! Think I have done three Guinness Storehouse tours now and that view from the Gravity Bar is so great.
I don’t think I’ll be drinking it at home any time soon! You must love it if you keep going back!
hahaha you made it!!
I am not a huge fan of beer either, even though I live in Germany!
But I like all these beer tasting things, it always turns out to be fun 😀
Your face after trying the beer is the best hahaha
Hahaha I thought my face expressed it better than words did!! Even for those not keen on the drink, it’s still a really fun way to spend the day like you said!
hahahaha your face said everything!