CocktailsPublished 20 January 20264 min read

Irish Coffee Step by Step: The Original Recipe

Irish Coffee is a hot cocktail of coffee, Irish whiskey, cane sugar and a layer of lightly whipped cream. It was invented in 1943 by chef Joe Sheridan at the flying boat base in Foynes, to warm up freezing passengers.

How was Irish Coffee born?

In the winter of 1943, a flying boat bound from Foynes in Ireland to New York had to turn back because of the weather. Joe Sheridan served the passengers coffee fortified with whiskey. When one American asked whether he was drinking Brazilian coffee, Sheridan replied: "No, that's Irish coffee." The recipe was carried out into the world by the journalist Stanton Delaplane, who brought it to the Buena Vista bar in San Francisco in 1952. They still sell over 2,000 glasses a day there.

What you will need

40 ml of Irish whiskey
120 ml of freshly brewed strong black coffee
2 teaspoons of brown cane sugar
30 ml of whipping cream (33 percent), only lightly whipped
a heatproof stemmed glass

Step by step

1. Warm the glass with hot water, then pour the water away. 2. Add the sugar, pour in the hot coffee and stir until the sugar dissolves. 3. Add the whiskey and give it a brief stir. 4. Whip the cream only lightly. It must still be pourable, but thicker than milk. 5. Pour it slowly over the back of a teaspoon so it forms a separate layer.

The most common mistakes

The worst offence is cream from an aerosol can, or cream whipped completely stiff. The proper layer should be semi-liquid, so the hot sweet coffee flows through the cool cream. The second mistake is skipping the sugar: it not only flavours the drink but helps the cream float. And never stir after the cream goes on. You drink through it.

At Little Island in Frydek-Mistek we make Irish Coffee to the original recipe, with Irish whiskey from a list of more than 50. Drop in at tr. T. G. Masaryka 1129. On a raw, chilly day there is no better choice.

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