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Irish Coffee
There’s nothing more satisfying than enjoying a hot Irish coffee crowned with cream on a cold and rainy autumn afternoon. This mildly sweet coffee speciality with a shot of Irish whisky has a character all of its own. It warms you up inside and spreads a cosy feeling. Read our best tips on this delicious hot drink from the Emerald Isle.
Recipe
How do you make Irish coffee?
It’s easy to serve wonderfully aromatic Irish coffee at home if you have a good recipe. This hot drink only needs a few ingredients:
• Ground coffee
• Whisky
• Sugar
• Cream
You can use a standard coffee machine to make it. According to the traditional Irish recipe, you need to follow the four steps listed below:
Step 1:
Warm the coffee glass by rinsing it out with boiling water to ensure that the Irish coffee stays hot for longer.
Step 2:
Add a teaspoon of brown sugar and about 40 ml of whisky to the warm glass. Stir the mixture well. You could also make the whisky/sugar mix on the hob. Important: the heat will dissolve the sugar, but do not allow the whisky to boil. The alcohol gives Irish coffee its unique note, which would otherwise evaporate if boiled.
Step 3:
Fill the glass with strong filter coffee, leaving about 1 cm from the top. If you don’t have an Irish coffee glass, you can simply pour 250 ml of coffee into an ordinary glass. Stir the mixture again.
Step 4:
Whip 50 ml of unsweetened cream until semi-stiff. Traditionally, you would let the cream slide over the back of a spoon onto the coffee so it swims on top of the hot drink. Important: stop stirring the Irish coffee as soon as you add the cream on top.
What is the best whisky for Irish coffee?
The right whiskey is the centrepiece of a good Irish coffee. It is best to choose a real Irish whiskey. Compared to Scotch whisky, it is significantly softer and less smoky or malty in flavour. The reason for this is the production process: Irish whiskeys are triple-distilled, while Scotch whiskies are only double-distilled. In Scotland, whisky is made with barley dried over a peat fire and malted barley. This is unusual in Ireland. This special mildness of Irish whiskey creates the uniquely harmonious and round flavour of Irish coffee. Whiskey varieties that are traditionally used for Irish coffee include Clontarf Single Malt and Tullamore Dew. Jameson is also considered a typical Irish coffee whiskey.
How do you drink Irish coffee?
To enjoy an Irish coffee in style, the right drinking vessel is important. A typical Irish coffee mug is made of glass. This allows the warm colours of the coffee, whiskey and whipped cream to be seen. An elongated glass with a handle or a latte macchiato glass, such as the NewWave latte macchiato glass from Villeroy & Boch, are ideal for Irish coffee.
- Irish coffee is traditionally drunk through the cream topping. Therefore, every sip of coffee mixes with some freshly melted cream. Connoisseurs usually choose this version as it offers the best taste experience.
- You can also enjoy Irish coffee with a spoon. Place some coffee on a spoon and then top it with a dash of cream.
- Some coffee drinkers prefer to stir the Irish coffee to combine the coffee with the cream.
Info
There are three different ways to enjoy an Irish coffee. The interplay between the coffee/whisky mixture and the cream is crucial.
Creative recipes for Irish coffee
There have been very many different takes on Irish coffee since it was invented. It is perfect for creating new recipes.
Try it out for yourself – we have put together a few tips and suggestions:
- Experiment with different types of whisky and use even a strong Scotch whisky.
- Decorate the cream topping with caramel sauce, chocolate sprinkles, chopped nuts or a biscuit.
- VSweeten the Irish coffee with different syrups to give it a new and fresh note.
- For a “Bumblebee” Irish coffee, layer Irish coffee and eggnog alternately in a glass.
- Spice Irish coffee up by sprinkling some fresh nutmeg or cardamom over the cream topping.
- Enjoy an ice-cold Irish coffee in summer. Use vanilla ice cream instead of cream for the topping.
Where does the drink come from?
Irish coffee is a wonderful speciality to sweeten a cold day. The notorious Irish weather played a key role in its creation. The hot drink goes back to an Irish chef: Sheridan ran an airport restaurant in the small town of Foynes in the 1940s. On a cold winter's night, an aeroplane to New York had to turn back due to the bad weather.
The airport restaurant staff, who had already gone home, returned to serve drinks and food to the passengers. Joe Sheridan added a good shot of whiskey to the coffee so that his late guests could warm up properly. His spontaneous creation was met with enthusiasm. When a guest asked if Joe had used Brazilian coffee for the recipe, Joe replied laconically: “No, it was Irish coffee!”
From then on, the new coffee speciality had a name. Joe refined his recipe and served the Irish coffee in glasses with stems so that it resembled an Irish Guinness beer. In the 1950s, an American travel journalist brought the recipe back to America, where it is still a popular cult drink today. Irish coffee is enjoyed in social gatherings in the pub, in the late afternoon after a walk or even after dinner.