Irish Coffee
Hot black coffee, brown sugar and Irish whiskey under a layer of cold, lightly whipped cream. The classic after-dinner warmer, drunk through the cream.
other · Approx. 8% ABV
Irish Coffee is hot, strong black coffee sweetened with brown sugar and spiked with Irish whiskey, with a thick layer of cold cream floating on top. You drink the hot coffee through the cool cream, which is the whole pleasure of it. It is a proper after-dinner drink and one of the best things to warm up with on a cold evening.
Ingredients
40ml Irish whiskey
120ml hot, freshly brewed strong black coffee
1–2 tsp brown sugar (demerara works well)
30ml double cream, lightly whipped until just thickened but still pourable
Hot water, to warm the glass
Method
Warm the glass: fill a heatproof stemmed glass or mug with hot water, leave it for a minute, then tip the water away.
Sugar and coffee: add the brown sugar, pour in the hot coffee and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. The sugar matters: it makes the coffee dense enough to hold the cream on top.
Add the whiskey: pour in the Irish whiskey and stir once more. Leave about 2cm of space at the top of the glass.
Float the cream: hold a teaspoon upside down just above the surface of the coffee and pour the cream slowly over the back of it so it settles in a layer on top.
Serve: do not stir. Drink it straight away, through the cream.
Tips for the Perfect Irish Coffee
Whip the cream only lightly. It should be thick enough to float but still pour. Stiff, piped cream sits on top like a hat instead of mixing as you sip.
Use fresh, hot, strong coffee. A filter, cafetière or a long black from a coffee machine all work well.
No brown sugar? White sugar works, but brown gives a rounder, slightly caramel flavour.
Skip the squirty cream and the cocoa dusting. A plain layer of cold cream is the classic finish.
Where It Comes From
The modern Irish Coffee is most often credited to Joe Sheridan, head chef at the flying-boat terminal at Foynes in County Limerick, who is said to have added whiskey to the coffee of chilled passengers in the early 1940s. The drink travelled to America after San Francisco Chronicle travel writer Stanton Delaplane tried it in Ireland and worked with the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco, which began serving it in November 1952. Sheridan himself later went to work at the Buena Vista. If you like a hot whiskey drink, try our Hot Toddy too.
Please drink responsibly. Know your limits, and never drink and drive.