Irish Coffee recipe
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and cream that floats on top — the only cocktail that's also a hug.
Method: Build ·
Glass: Irish coffee glass or heat-proof mug ·
Time: 5 min ·
Difficulty: Intermediate ·
Family: Modern Classics
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Irish Whiskey (Jameson, Powers, or Tullamore Dew)
- 4 oz Hot Coffee (freshly brewed, good quality)
- 1 tbsp Demerara Sugar
- 1.5 oz Heavy Cream (lightly whipped — NOT stiff peaks)
How to make a Irish Coffee
- Preheat your glass by filling it with hot water, then dump it out.
- Add sugar and a small splash of coffee. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- Add whiskey and fill with hot coffee. Stir once.
- Lightly whip cream until it just barely holds its shape — you want it pourable, not stiff.
- Pour the cream over the back of a spoon so it floats on top.
- Do NOT stir. Drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
Garnish
The cream IS the garnish.
Pro tip
The cream must be lightly whipped — just past liquid but nowhere near whipped cream. If you can't pour it, you've gone too far. The whole point is drinking hot, sweet, boozy coffee through a layer of cold cream. If you stir it in, you've made a latte with whiskey.
History of the Irish Coffee
Created in 1943 by Joe Sheridan at the Foynes Airbase in Ireland to warm up passengers arriving on transatlantic flights. Travel writer Stanton Delaplane brought the recipe to the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco in 1952, where they still serve about 2,000 a day.
Flavour profile
Coffee, Cream, Warm, Whiskey
Variations
- Spanish Coffee — Use rum, Kahlua, and flambe the rim with sugar
- Mexican Coffee — Tequila and Kahlua instead of whiskey
- Baileys Coffee — Replace whiskey and cream with Baileys — easier but sweeter
Practise making the Irish Coffee in the free Virtual Bar game.