Irish Coffee
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey and brown sugar under a layer of lightly whipped cream. Drunk through the cream, never stirred.
- MethodHot
- GlassStemmed Irish coffee glass
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 8.6% ABV
- BaseWhiskey
- Tastecreamy, sweet, strong
Recipe
| 45 ml 1½ oz | Irish whiskey |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Demerara syrup (2:1) or Sugar cube (or 1 tsp sugar) |
| 120 ml 4 oz | Hot filter coffee |
| 30 ml 1 oz | Heavy (double) cream, lightly whipped |
Garnish. None; the band of cold cream is the garnish. A little grated nutmeg on top is an optional modern touch.
Method
- Warm the glass by filling it with hot water, then empty it.
- Add the syrup (or sugar) and the hot coffee and stir until any sugar dissolves, then stir in the whiskey.
- Whip the cream by hand just until it thickens but still pours.
- Pour the cream slowly over the back of a warm spoon so it floats in a thick layer on the coffee. Do not stir; drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
About the Irish Coffee
Irish Coffee is hot, sweetened coffee with a measure of Irish whiskey, capped with a layer of cold, barely whipped cream. The pleasure is in the contrast: each sip passes through cool cream into hot, sweet, whiskey-laced coffee. The sugar is not optional; it is what lets the cream float.
History
Documented
The drink is associated with the flying-boat terminal at Foynes, on the Shannon estuary in Ireland, where the chef Joe Sheridan served whiskey-laced coffee with cream to transatlantic passengers in the 1940s; the restaurant later moved to the new Shannon Airport. Stanton Delaplane, a travel writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, tasted it at Shannon and worked with Jack Koeppler of the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco to reproduce it. The Buena Vista dates its first Irish Coffee to November 1952 and has served it ever since; Sheridan himself later worked there.
Legend and lore
The usual story places the first one in the winter of 1943, made for passengers of a flight forced back to Foynes by bad weather, with Sheridan telling a guest it was "Irish coffee" when asked if it was Brazilian. The details come from later retellings rather than records of the night.
Disputed or unclear: The exact year of the first Irish Coffee at Foynes (usually given as 1942 or 1943) is not documented.
Variations
- Hot Toddy. Whiskey with honey, lemon and hot water instead of coffee.
- Spanish or Caribbean coffee. The same build with rum or brandy and sometimes coffee liqueur.
- Espresso Martini. The cold, shaken coffee cocktail.
Bartender's notes
- Whip the cream only until it is like thick paint; stiff cream sits in lumps and runny cream sinks.
- Use filter coffee that is strong but not bitter, and no more than 120 ml or the whiskey disappears.
