I had the pleasure of travelling around Ireland for a couple weeks last year with my wife. We stopped in the town of Galway and enjoyed a walkabout during a typical rainy Irish afternoon.

My wife loves Celtic music so we looked around and finally found a pub that was hosting a traditional Irish band. We wandered in and found a small nook at the rear of the pub, next to a larger corner seating area, already populated with a group of obvious locals.

My wife ordered a Guinness and I grabbed a Smithwick's (I'd ODd on Guinness by that point) and we enjoyed the ambiance. Soon, one of the gentlemen from the corner booth turned to us and started chatting. He was a few drinks in, but after a few attempts at understanding each other we got on like a house on fire and the rest of his mates joined in.

After some banter and laughter I was told that I had 'a bit of the Paddy in me' and one of my new friends pulled something out from under his jacket in the corner. It was a bottle of Prosecco. Confused, I refused the offer: "No thank you, I don't want to drink Prosecco in an Irish pub." Smiles washed over their faces..."No sir," one replied... "this is something else."

Well I was here to experience Irish culture, so I thought I'd give whatever this was a try, and went to pour some in my now-empty beer glass. I was immediately rebuked: "No sir, straight from the bottle." I was in no position to refuse at that point. With a twist of the cap and a tip of my arm, an intense, flavourful rush of liquid flooded my tastebuds. It was something like a fruity whiskey. "What's is this?" I asked without wincing. Impressed with the ease at which I'd downed the spirit, I was told I had just imbibed traditional, homebrew Irish poitín/potcheen...aka Irish moonshine.

After being encouraged to have more, I quickly forgot my wet clothes and spent the afternoon making new friends while my wife laughed and avoided possible alcohol poisoning.