5 recipes for unique Irish coffee with whiskey

Irish coffee is a popular hot drink that can warm you up on cool winter evenings. It is a cocktail of coffee, Irish whiskey, and farm cream. The bad reputation comes from the fact that the drink is often prepared from cheap types of coffee beans and whiskey, and low-quality cream. Real Irish coffee has a rich consistency of aromas of nutty, slightly bitter coffee, caramel sugar and fiery whiskey, which makes for a pleasant contrast with the cold, lightly whipped creamy layer on top.

Irish coffee recipe history
Traditional Irish coffee and whiskey recipe
Modern types of Irish coffee
How Irish coffee is prepared in modern cafes
3 step-by-step recipes for making at home
Popular recipe
The perfect modern Irish cocktail
Irish coffee with a twist of Choco
Aspects of serving Irish coffee

Irish coffee recipe history

The cocktail was made in the winter of 1943 by Joe Sheridan, a chef at Foynes Airport in Limerick, for cold, tired passengers from a transatlantic flight forced to return to Ireland due to bad weather. The drink has become popular at the airport.

In 1945, the airport was closed and the drink was forgotten. He was made famous by journalist Stan Delaplane. He shared his coffee memoirs with his friend, a bartender. This came out in 1952. Since then, Irish coffee has gained popularity all over the world.

Traditional Irish coffee and whiskey recipe

Regular Irish coffee is made from freshly ground Arabica beans, real Irish Jameson whiskey, and farm cream. Store-bought cream is not suitable. Other types of coffee and whiskey will also change the usual taste.

coffee made from new Arabica beans, medium roast – 170 ml;
Irish whiskey – 30 ml;
farm cream – 40 ml;
brown and granulated sugar - to taste.

Brew coffee in a Turkish coffee pot or French press.
Warm up a glass goblet.
Pour whiskey, mix with sugar and set fire. Sugar thickens the mixture, ensuring that the cream does not sink to the bottom of the glass.
Pour coffee.
In a shaker, beat the cream with ice cubes.
Carefully place a bar spoon onto the surface of the water.

Stan Delaplane came to Joe Sheridan in Ireland specifically to return the first recipe for this drink. The chef shared his secrets: the cream does not need to be whipped into a very thick foam.

You should pour it into a glass, placing the back of a spoon under the stream. The cream will pour over the spoon and rest moderately on the layer.

Modern types of Irish coffee

The drink has recently received some changes from some rather innovative bartenders. Some add a greenish cream on top of the cream to give them spiciness and extra taste, while others beat malt extract and vanilla for the most powerful aroma. Some people add orange zest.

Types of drinks	Calorie content (kcal)	Carbohydrates (g)	Fats (g)
Irish coffee	113	4	4,5
Cappuccino	31	2,42	1,66
Latte	33	3,03	1,35

Calorie content can reach up to 250 kcal, it all depends on the number of components. Whiskey makes this cocktail an alcoholic drink. Alcohol – from 12 to 15%.

How Irish coffee is prepared in modern cafes

At the moment, in restaurants and cafes, the cocktail is served in tempered glass glasses with a tall stem, so that the customer can visually assess the composition and properties of the drink. There are different methods for making it. Below is the official recipe, generally accepted by the International Bartenders Association.

dark coffee – 80 ml;
Irish whiskey – 40 ml;
cream – 30 ml;
sugar – 1 tsp.

Warm the glass in hot water.
Pour hot coffee and mix it with unrefined sugar, preferably brown sugar.
Then carefully pour in the whiskey.
Place a layer of whipped cream on top.

3 step-by-step recipes for making at home

You can prepare your own cup of this cocktail without leaving the kitchen. There are a huge number of unique recipes.

Popular recipe

The first recipe for irish coffee is quite ordinary, anyone can make it.

30/45 gr. Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew;
180 ml roast coffee;
2 cubes of coffee sugar.

Turk for making coffee;
glass goblet;
spoon for mixing.

{Instructions} for production:

Warm up your own favorite glass (make sure it's heatproof) by placing it in a bath of bubbling water.
Mix coffee (as much as you usually take) with boiled water. Mix thoroughly and pour approximately three-quarters full into a heated glass.
Add two sugar cubes and stir well until the sugar is properly dissolved and no lumps remain.
Add 30 or 45 gr. Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew.

There is an optional item. When Sheridan first served the cocktail to passengers, he did not have cream on hand. Modern recipes are incomplete without cream. So you can add a generous portion of lightly whipped cream, spooned onto the top.

The perfect modern Irish cocktail

If you want to make a drink that would meet the standards of a modern bartender, then you will need a subsequent version of it. This is another fairly basic recipe, but the trick is getting the perfect cream mixture. It will be necessary to make several attempts to master the ability to cook it.

nutmeg (for decoration);
180 freshly brewed coffee;
30ml cool double whipping cream;
30 or 40 ml whiskey;
2 tablespoons coffee sugar.

Irish coffee with a twist of Choco

The following recipe is for those who love chocolate. Unlike the previous recipe, you don't have to worry about getting the cream perfectly mixed because we just mix it together.

2 teaspoons or sugar cubes;
180 ml coffee;
30 or 45 gr. whiskey (again, Irish whiskey is better, after all, you are making Irish coffee);
50 ml / 1 quarter cup of heavy cream;
30/45 ml chocolate syrup.

{Instructions} for production:

Place the cream in a bowl and whisk the cream until it is thickest in texture, but smooth enough in mixture that you can simply stir it into your drink.
Combine chocolate syrup and cream and stir until evenly distributed.
Transfer the whipped cream/chocolate mixture into the glass you will be using.
Add sugar to freshly brewed coffee and stir thoroughly before adding to a glass of whipped cream.
Pour in the whiskey and mix the drink with a spoon.

As with the previous recipe, enjoy this while it's hot. If you want to add more chocolate, do it yourself.

Aspects of serving Irish coffee

Even if you decide to prepare the drink at home, you should follow the serving rules. Irish coffee is drunk hot until the cream becomes watery. This is the only way to experience the real taste of the drink. Hot and strong, the cocktail can warm you up on cool winter evenings. For each person, the cocktail is made in a separate glass.

Irish coffee is served as a separate drink without sweets.

In different establishments, portions vary from 180 ml to 380 ml. Prices also vary: from 280 to 450 rubles. In Ireland – 6-7 euros.

Irish coffee – a warming cocktail with whiskey

Irish coffee (Irish coffee) is one of the most delicious cocktails, which is immediately liked by both alcohol connoisseurs and coffee lovers. The problem is that the usual taste of the drink can only be achieved if the ingredients are selected correctly and the recipe is strictly followed.

Colleagues of the CoffeeFan website helped us choose coffee and cream for Irish coffee, for which we are especially grateful. We taught them to whip cream in a shaker and use a bar spoon.

Historical reference

Until the early 50s of the 20th century, an air flight from Europe to America lasted 18 hours in an unpressurized and unheated seaplane cabin - the planes of those years were unreliable and often broke down in the air, so the possibility of a critical landing on water was required.

Seaplane Boeing 314, range - 6000 km

To fly across the Atlantic, passengers from Europe arrived at the Irish transit airport Shannon, then they were transported to the port city of Foynes, which had a seaplane terminal.

World-famous politicians, businessmen, cultural figures and journalists often visited Shannon Airport. To ensure that the distinguished public was satisfied with the service, the administration hired Joseph Sheridan, a famous chef from Dublin, to work in the airport restaurant.

One fine moment in the evening of 1943, due to bad weather, a plane en route to the United States (the United States of America is a state in North America) returned back. The passengers spent several hours in the air and were very cold; they urgently needed to be warmed up. Joseph Sheridan offered customers hot coffee with whiskey and cream according to a recipe he had recently invented. One of the passengers liked the treat so much that he asked the question: “Is this Brazilian coffee?” Sheridan answered: “No, Irish.”

Since then, Irish coffee has become the airport's signature drink. In 1951, Irish coffee was tried by Stanton Delaplane, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle. After returning to the USA (the United States of America is a country in North America), Delaplane told his friend Jack Keppler, who owned the Buena Vista bar, about the unusual coffee.

Recipe creator Joe Sheridan

After lengthy tests of mixing the ingredients, Kepler found the perfect proportions and method of production. In a couple of months, Irish coffee transformed Buena Vista into the most visited bar in San Francisco, and since 1952, the creator of the recipe, Joseph Sheridan, who moved to live in the USA (the United States of America is a state in North America), . The bar is still open today, with a record of 6,000 Irish coffee drinks per day.

Marilyn Monroe tries Irish coffee for the first time

The Right Ingredients

To make Irish coffee, you need medium-roasted Arabica beans (Vienna or a little lighter), preferably with chocolate notes, for example, the Indian variety Plantation A. Blends with robusta are very bitter.

The method of brewing coffee is not of fundamental importance; double espresso brewed in a cezve (Turk), French press or pour over will do, as long as it is not instant. A French press is considered a good option. The degree of grinding depends on the manufacturing method.

Whiskey

You can use any brand of Irish whiskey without peat or smoky notes: Jameson, Bushmills, Connemara, Finnegan, St. Patrick and others. Aging is not of fundamental importance, since these subtle colors are lost in the consistency with coffee and cream.

It is better to add warm whiskey (preheat in a water bath beforehand) or at room temperature, then the ingredients mix better and the cocktail remains hot longer.

Cream

The most problematic ingredient causing controversy. You need the freshest cream with 20-30% fat content, you can take 10%, but the taste of the cocktail will not be as rich. Unwhipped cream sinks to the bottom and, under the influence of whiskey, coagulates into lumps. But cream from a can is also far from the best option.

From time to time, Irish coffee is depicted in photographs with a tall head of cream. This does not correspond to the traditional version, since it is customary to drink the cocktail immediately after making it without stirring with a spoon or straw. If the creamy foam is very high, it is very difficult to drink Irish coffee without getting dirty. That's why experienced bartenders refuse cream from a can, preferring ordinary watery ones.

Cream for Irish coffee is whipped cool (+3-5 °C) until a homogeneous plastic foam appears, then poured into a glass in a narrow stream rather than spooned. At home, instead of a blender, it is better to use an ordinary kitchen whisk to beat until a suitable mixture is obtained.

Bartenders whip cream in a shaker filled with ice. The disadvantage of this method is that the cream is slightly diluted with water, because the higher the fat content, the better. We don’t recommend even trying with 10%.

Sugar

Cane sugar dissolves more quickly in whiskey, this is a desirable option. Beetroot and even refined sugar are suitable for substitution, but during the manufacturing process you need to ensure that the sugar is completely dissolved.

Wineglass

Irish coffee is served in a special glass glass with a handle, made specifically for this cocktail.

Special glass

Traditional Irish coffee recipe

Composition and proportions:

hot dark coffee – 80 ml;
Irish whiskey – 40 ml;
whipped cream – 30 ml;
cane sugar – 1 teaspoon (optional).

Manufacturing development

1. Warm up the glass with steam from a coffee machine or simply pour slightly hot water.

2. Whip the cream until a uniform, stable foam appears.

3. Brew dark natural coffee using any method, filter through a coffee filter as necessary to remove any remaining suspended matter.

4. Pour water from the glass, add hot coffee and sugar. Make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved.

5. Pour whiskey into coffee. Mix.

6. Using a bar spoon, along the blade of a knife or over an inverted spoon, add cream in a narrow stream so that it is light on the surface in an even layer.

7. In the classic version, the finished cocktail is not decorated with anything, served hot and drunk in small sips.

Irish Coffee: History, Personalities and Recipe

Origin

According to some sources, “Irish coffee” was invented around the same time as “Pharisäer” and “Fiaker”, in other words in the 19th century. “Farisee” and “Fiaker” are cocktails with rum and “cream into foam”, which were served in elongated glasses in Vienna establishments. If you are aware of the Irish coffee recipe, you will immediately see where the “legs grow” from here.

The modern history of the cocktail began in the middle of the 20th century. In 1942 (or 1943, in various sources - different information) Joe Sheridan, the chef of a restaurant and coffee shop in the town of Foynes (County Limerick, Ireland), served guests coffee with rum. The fact is that Sheridan’s establishment was located right at the airport, and there was no shortage of people wanting to warm up.

According to another version, “Irish coffee” was popularized by Stanton Delaplane, a South American travel journalist who worked for the San Francisco Chronicle for a long time and even received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. He tried an alcoholic cocktail for the first time at the Irish Shannon Airport, which is located near the town of Ennis, County Clare. In 1952, at the suggestion of Delaplane, “Irish coffee” began to be served at the Buena Vista establishment in San Francisco. Interestingly, the above-mentioned Joe Sheridan later left Ireland for... work at the Buena Vista cafe.

Recipe from IBA

Irish coffee is known in almost all countries of the world. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) has the usual recipe on its website. So, according to the IBA, the composition includes:

90 ml dark coffee,
40 ml Irish whiskey,
30 ml “cream into foam”,
1 teaspoon cane/coffee sugar (with molasses).

The IBA classifies Irish coffee as a “modern classic.”

How to cook

Before all this, a few general comments:

Previously, the recipe used heavy cream, but now it’s mostly whipped cream;
coffee base - usually Americano (espresso with a lot of hot water);
All containers must be warmed well before production or at least rinsed with boiling water;
“Irish coffee” is served without a straw - when drinking, the coffee must pass through the cream;
spoon with Irish coffee is also not served.

The cocktail is prepared as follows: a heated glass glass with a tall stem is wiped dry, then coffee is poured in and sugar is poured. Once the sugar is mixed, add whiskey and, on top of everything, cream. Nothing complicated, right? From time to time, the heated whiskey comes first, followed by other ingredients.

Regional options

Irish coffee is in demand throughout the Iberian Peninsula, with locals paying particular attention to the precise separation of the layers of whiskey (bottom), coffee (center) and cream (top). Gaelic (also known as “Highland coffee”) refers to a drink containing scotch, in other words, Scotch whiskey. There is also “Irish cream coffee” or “Baileys coffee” - coffee with liqueur based on Irish whiskey. Often in bars in Southeast Asia, the menu includes a cocktail of cool coffee, whiskey and cream, but sometimes without the last ingredient - so this drink is called Irish coffee here.

The usual recipe can be supplemented with spices, chocolate and even crushed ice. The amount of ingredients varies freely. Example: mashed nutmeg is combined with 1.5 tbsp. spoons of coffee sugar, 4 tbsp. spoons of cream, 50 ml of whiskey and a cup of hot coffee. The result is Irish coffee. It turns out that the matter is not in milliliters, but in the components themselves and the correct manufacturing process.

Well, now you understand about Irish coffee. We hope it will help you warm up on a cool spring evening!

Irish coffee - a warming classic

Irish coffee is a strong, sweet drink in which the rich coffee taste is complemented by warming Irish whiskey. In the glass, the blackness of the drink mixes with the whiteness of the whipped cream. For almost every decade, the dessert has not lost popularity; its recipe is included in the IBA (International Bartenders Association) list of traditional cocktails.

Irish coffee history

The cocktail is relatively young, although it is considered a classic, so the history of its appearance is reliably known. The recipe was invented by bartender Joseph Sheridan, who worked at the Foynes Airport bar in County Limerick (south-west Ireland) in the early 20th century. In the 1930s and 40s, this airport was a major transfer point for flights from the United States (the United States of America is a country in North America) to Europe and back.

Americans traveling shivered on planes, sitting for hours in a cool airport waiting for delayed flights. To warm up, we went to a bar where we drank tea and whiskey - a common warming treat for the Irish. The coffee cocktail originated on July 19, 1942, when Sheridan decided to use coffee, which Americans adored more, instead of tea. That day, reporter Stan Delaplane was in the bar, he tried the newest dessert, and with his light hand, Irish coffee gained popularity.

The war began, the airport was closed. Delaplane remembered the delicious Irish drink, and in 1952 he told Jack Keppler, the owner of the California bar Buena Vista, about it. Keppler breathed a second life into the recipe: he added a creamy top and began serving the drink in large glasses with a handle (these glasses are called toddy). Now the cocktail is so popular that guests of Buena Vista drink hundreds of thousands of servings per year.

Irish coffee recipe

Faithful irish coffee:

Based only on whiskey. Recommended whiskey brands are Jameson, Paddy, Redbreast, Connemara. Scotch, cognac, rum and other alcoholic drinks are not consumed. Triple Irish Whiskey does not overpower the coffee, unlike other types of alcohol, and imparts a smooth taste.
Prepared with cream of 20 or 30% fat content. The cream must be whipped, but lightly, until a soft, homogeneous mass is formed, but not foam. If this is not done, they will fall to the bottom of the glass and become crumpled under the influence of alcohol. The creamy mass is not spooned, but carefully poured, spreading moderately over the surface of the drink.
It is sweetened not with beet sugar, but with cane sugar, which dissolves more quickly in alcohol.
Served in a glass cocktail cup with a handle, made specifically for the coffee drink.
Doesn't stir. Drink without straws or other devices.
Mixes with soufflé and other airy sweets. Not to be used with flour baked goods, meat and fish dishes.

Traditional Irish coffee recipe

80 ml of hot, fresh coffee of any brand;
40 ml Irish whiskey;
30 ml cream;
teaspoon cane sugar (sweetener may not be used).