by Angela Casserly in New Trends on Thursday 2 February 2012

Kickstarter project founder Ashlee Casserly is a Washington D.C resident. She is looking to revive an old-school white spirit called Poitín (pronounced puh-cheen) which originated in Ireland about 1,000 years ago. Poitín is Gaelic for ‘little pot’, derived from small coppers pots used by the home distillers.

Distilled from malted barley grain or potatoes, it is one of the strongest alcoholic beverages in the world. The background? In 1661, the Bristish Crown outlawed the Irish spirit, and surprisingly, the Poitín ban lasted more than 300 years, during which time recipes were handed down and batches of Poitín were secretly distilled and shared in Ireland. I have pledged twice and can’t wait to get my hands on one of the first bottles to hit the States. Spread the word and you very well might be knocking back a Poitín cocktail on St Paddy’s Day yourself. Sláinte!