Hannah
March 13, 2009, 4:01 pm

Wow, Pete, I never knew!

Zhang Kun
May 17, 2009, 4:02 pm

This is very helpful information, since I am translating an Irish novel into Chinese and came across the phrase "Black and Tan".
Thank you very much.

Hannah
May 18, 2009, 1:20 pm

Good luck in your endeavors, Zhang. Glad we could help!

Jim
February 4, 2011, 2:22 am

Reportedly the brits also pressed their military criminals into the unit.

Chris
July 4, 2011, 2:16 pm

I cant believe its Guiness and Harp in the mix..DO NOT ORDER IT IN IRELAND! expect to get a punch if you order it around an Irsh person! and i think if you have any respect dont order it at all! They burned our houses and raped our wives!

Michael
August 2, 2011, 11:05 pm

I wish I had read this post before my recent trip to Ireland. It would have avoided an embarrassing moment. For more read on what happened read: http://www.changesinlongitude.com/2011/07/order-black-and-tan-irish-pub-ireland-dublin/

Diane
February 21, 2016, 4:59 pm

Unfortunately my grandmother told us a few stories from her youth in Ireland. And it was before 1920, Black & Tans walking down the roads in her village. I am sure there was a lot she left out but the stories were never good. She left in 1920 for America, she was 19

Sb
April 2, 2016, 10:28 pm

We ordered them in Ireland(Killarney) and had no problem, dont believe everything you read on the internet!

Scott Munroe
June 11, 2016, 11:57 pm

Don't plan any trips to Ireland, anyway. I love black and tans, and I love Guinness. I enjoy the freedom, too.

Ed Sjolin
June 29, 2016, 9:43 pm

I have always considered myself an alternative Irishman. After all, my Scandinavian ancestors brought red hair and freckles south. As I was growing up in a horse-training town, I was exposed to quite a few Irish steeplechase jocks and through their good graces, I was warned before my first trip to Ireland. A lovely country and a lovely people.

bobby sands
September 26, 2016, 8:31 pm

you bog trotters never stop whinging....god save the queen

Warren
February 19, 2017, 6:06 pm

Unfortunately, Guinness and Harp have closely similar specific gravities, and trying to get a good separation is very difficult. They usually blend together, resulting in more of a porter... it is still tasty (Harp is one of my favorites.. they call it an authentic Pilsner Lager)

Tvlee767
June 1, 2017, 4:10 am

ANgela's ashes,by Frank.Mcourt ,really moved my heart. The story was sad and funny to heart breaking, worth reading.

Lindsay
July 7, 2017, 2:00 am

I was just told off by my Irish colleague for asking if he'd like a Black & Tan. I hit google to find out what was so upsetting about this. I now see the error of my ways!!

Brian
July 15, 2017, 8:55 pm

Lol. Didn't this end a bit ago? He shouldn't be so sour anymore.

Harry Allen
July 24, 2017, 1:17 am

Damn, glad I now know better in case I ever make it over to the Auld Sod.
Always made mine with Guineas and Harps Lager.
Now Oirter and whatever brown or amber ale is available.

Mary
August 14, 2017, 4:01 am

I see revisionist history is alive and well- especially on the internet- so how will anyone learn the truth??! My Grandpop was a 3 yo in Galway, Ireland when the Black and Tan (England's insane and prisoners), not the RIC as noted, shot up his one- room school room ( I collected pieces of shot- up blackboard) hence today we are American of Irish Catholic descent!!!

John
August 14, 2017, 8:29 pm

I was raised in Ireland and bartended there as an adult. I am surprised to see all the comments where Irish people became upset by being asked for/offered a Black & Tan as a drink. I mixed plenty of them in my day! All Irish people are very aware of the atrocities committed by the Black & Tans but I personally never knew anyone to get upset by associating it with the drink. Where I worked, Dublin, Tipperary & Clare a "Black & Tan" drink was Guinness and Smithwicks or Bass. Any brown ale. It differs around the country and I have even heard Guinness and Harp, although that was a "Half & Half" in my stomping grounds.

Patricia Hartman
September 20, 2017, 1:01 pm

I unfortunately made this mistake last week and I was in Ireland. I never cared for Guinness in the states so I would always order a black and tan. Our bartender in Galway was very sweet about

Patricia Hartman
September 20, 2017, 1:03 pm

About not embarrassing me. I really wish that they Ireland guide books such as Rick Steves would mention this. BTW the Guinness in Ireland is so much better than in the states, I am now a lover of Guinness

Michael Broland
November 14, 2017, 2:39 pm

The black and tans I learn to drink we're Irish on Irish Guinness over harp.
Might still not be in true Irish concoction but a little more palatable to a patriot.
Nowadays what is very fashionable at bars is ordering a blacksmith...
Guinness over smithwick's, again Irish Over Irish for The Patriot.
Mini bars not carrying smithwick's however we'll make it with whatever red beer they have

Rick Holmes
January 25, 2018, 1:16 am

I do my best to support the Independence of Northern Ireland. I do like my half and halfs. I use Harp when I can get it. Costco sells a mixed case which actually has the "recipe" for the half and half on the box. It can be poured successfully with care. When I don't have Harp, I use Molsen Canadian and make a half and half eh.

John Nash
March 17, 2018, 6:49 am

Sounds similar to the warning never to put your empty beer glass upside down on the table. It is said to mean that you are ready to take on any one in the house in a brue ha ha .

patric
March 17, 2018, 7:01 pm

In Ireland this past summer, every night I ordered a pint of Guinness with black currant juice or creme de cassis. I never said black and tan.
Some nights I ordered 2, 3 or 4!!!
Beannachta na File Pdraig oraibh or Happy St. Paddy's Day to all!

JHelen
March 31, 2018, 5:16 pm

Have you seen the rage still in Southern states over the 'war of northern aggression' aka the Civil War in the US. Ireland has been a free country for only 100 years. The English destroyed their amazing and civilized culture, stole their land and wealth, enslaved their people (including in the US... irish were sold into slavery and treated worse than the negro slaves)... There is still a great deal of anger and pain, and people who've heard stories from those who lived them.

Ty Neweiner
July 5, 2018, 8:33 pm

Cant we all just get along. As an American i can look past the british stupidity of coming to America. After the @$ my ancestors kicked out of our Country. I harbor mo grudge. LoL ,,,,{},,,,
,,,,{},,,, lmao

Isho
July 14, 2018, 5:01 am

I'm watching a Twilight Zone (the Bard) and the character says "this'll go down like a Black and Tan at an IRA picnic". I had to look that up. Thanks for the insight.

Lord hehaw
January 8, 2019, 10:38 pm

Utter shite

Danny boy
February 26, 2019, 9:19 pm

The struggle is still very real. And a new younger generation of the IRA have been gaining numbers and are very well organized.

Jen
March 31, 2019, 9:22 am

People get offended over all sorts. There's a great cocktail that I love, comes with sparklers and two large straws. Some snowflake Americans cry when you order a Twin Towers though.

JB
June 6, 2019, 2:12 pm

I learned this lesson the hard way years ago, I was in an Irish pub in San Francisco that was full of Irishman. I ordered a black and tan. Everyone turned and looked at me, you could almost hear the record scratch. The bartender waived his hand and the crowd went back to their business. Then he leaned in and explained why I should never order that at a Irish pub. He gladly made me a half and half and I left with all of my teeth.

John Curran
October 17, 2019, 9:46 am

I ordered a black & tan yesterday at the Brazen Head, Irelands oldest pub. The bartender spat out Im not doin it. This is no joke. Dont make the same mistake I did. Order a half & half instead.

Tom
January 23, 2020, 6:43 pm

But how is it poured where you get it in the states? I know it sounds pretentious but there is a right and a wrong way to pour Guinness. If your getting a pint thats held upright under the tap and filled to the brim, then you are getting a horrible pint that is more Co2 that stout.

Mark
March 19, 2021, 12:07 am

Guinness is tapped with special nozzle, and a mix of CO2 and Nitrogen called beer gas. A properly poured pint isnt more CO2 than stout. What youre seeing is the nitrogen rising in whats called a cascade. Wait a few minutes and youll have your full glass of stout.

l
March 23, 2021, 5:47 pm

Yeah, just from an Irish person, we might not react, but that doesn't mean we're not offended.

shay John
July 27, 2021, 6:32 am

.. the Black and Tans were comprised of unemployed/decommissioned soldiers after the great war, the Brits did not know what to do with them... No doubt severe 'PTSD' was the order of the day in those ranks.. They should have been medicated not sent out again (but PTSD did not exist back then).. Ireland, under British rule for hundreds of years (800 just about), had never encountered such brutality in all that time... They won't be forgot for an little Irish while..

Jack Sullivan
October 11, 2021, 12:21 pm

A Half & Half or "Black & Tan" as the Yanks call it. Is also known in some counties as a "Special".

DD McKenna
July 21, 2022, 6:24 pm

The Irish never forget. As a little child I hid and my mom wanted to know why I was so scared. I told her I was hiding from the Black and Tans. I was 3yrs old then in 1955.

Glenn
August 24, 2022, 9:43 am

I'm Irish and I worked in a pub for 5 years back in the 1990's. We served black and tans as Guinness and Smithwicks, nobody ever had a problem serving it, its just the name of a drink! The black and tans were scum who committed many atrocities across Ireland and are still hated to this day but nobody cares about a drink having the same name! Realistically its just named for the colour!
A half and half was always a shandy, a mixture of Lager or beer or ale with red or white lemonade, usually lager and white lemonade or ale/beer and red lemonade.

John
November 10, 2022, 1:50 pm

I worked at an Irish restaurant years ago in America and was taught how to make Black and Tan. We also served Jameson whiskey but not Bushmills. One time an Irishman came in asking for Bushmills and when I informed him that we did not carry it he told me the proprietor was a bigot. The owners were very Catholic, so I presume Republican. Therefore, I wonder why they chose to serve Black and Tans, or is it only the North that suffered under the ruthlessness of the British military?

Lew Bryson
May 30, 2024, 12:56 am

Black & Tans were served in Ireland in the 1880s, and called "Black & Tans" in Ireland in the 1880s. If I had to guess, I'd bet that this interpretation (and taking offense at it) was taught to the Irish by Irish-Americans.