Cocktail recipe Irish Coffee

“Cream is thick like an Irish accent; coffee – strong, like a friendly handshake; sugar is sweet, like the speech of a swindler; and whiskey as virgin as the promised land.” This is how the Irish Coffee cocktail was described by its creator Joseph Sheridan.

Irish coffee is the only classic cocktail that is made with coffee. Its classic version is quite capricious, especially when it comes to putting chilled cream on a mixture of coffee, whiskey and sugar – they like to treacherously fail and spoil the appearance of the drink. In addition, this cocktail is also the only warming drink in the IBA bar list, in general, it has enough merit. So, Irish coffee cocktail in all its glory.

History of Irish Coffee

The cocktail is quite young by bar standards, so the story of its creation is known from reliable sources, which is rare for other classic cocktails. It belongs to the able hands of Joseph Sheridan, who worked as a bartender at the airport in the town of Foynes, in County Limerick in the southwest of my beloved Ireland. In the 30-40s of the last century, this airport was the most important transit point for transatlantic airlines, through which the Yankees constantly flew.

Flying Americans had to sit for hours in airport bars waiting for their flights, which were very often delayed due to bad weather. Everyone was helped to warm up by the favorite drink of the Irish – tea with Irish whiskey. On July 19, 1942 (the day the Irish coffee cocktail appeared), Sheridan decided to replace tea with the Yankee’s favorite drink, coffee. On that day, Irish coffee was born. The popularity of the cocktail was provided by reporter Stan Delaplane, who at that time visited Sheridan’s counter and tasted the latter’s signature drink.

Then World War II overtook the whole world and the airport was closed. But Delaplanne did not forget about the cocktail he liked and shared his recipe in 1952 with Jack Keppler, who at that time owned the Buena Vista bar in San Francisco. It was Keppler who breathed new life into Irish coffee, adding cream to it and changing the serving dish from cups to special glass glasses on a tempered glass leg (the modern version of the glass, which is called Irish Coffee or Toddy). The cocktail has become so famous that Buena Vista still sells up to several hundred thousand servings a year.

Traditional Irish coffee recipe

Here I will describe a whole ritual, the violation of which is very critical for the taste of a cocktail. Working in a coffee shop, I learned how to perfectly prepare only the “gloomy” version of Irish coffee, which we called “commercial”. Fortunately, before leaving, a more expensive version of the cocktail appeared on the menu, which was prepared according to the classic recipe. So, traditional Irish.

Here I will allow myself to post a small photo recipe for Irish coffee, which, to be honest, I borrowed from one of the bourgeois sites.

1. Heat up a serving glass, for which simply fill it with boiling water, and then, when the glass is heated, pour it out.

2. Brew coffee in a french press. You can see from the picture that this is a familiar glass teapot with a piston filter. For brewing, you need one of the varieties of Arabica, medium roast (this type of roast, which is popular in Europe, is most often used). Here the variety is at your discretion, the main thing is that the coffee is fresh (roasted within 7-25 days, after 25 days it loses its taste). Grinding medium, for a French press. Use only clean, filtered water, with a temperature not exceeding 95 ^оC.
3. While the coffee is brewing put sugar in a glass and pour whiskey. Here I would recommend warming the whiskey with a cappuccinatore so that it warms up and the sugar dissolves in it, but you can not do this – high-quality whiskey will flare up on its own. In the photos, unfortunately, there is no stage of whiskey burning (below you will find a video with the full stage of preparation of the classic Irish), so I will have to tell in words. Set fire to the mixture of whiskey and sugar and stir everything with a bar spoon until there is no sugar left at the bottom. It is better to lift it with a spoon to the edge of the glass so that the sugar caramelizes there.

4. Put out the flame, covering the glass with a fire, and add coffee (one French press is enough to make 2 servings of a cocktail).
5. In a shaker with ice whip cream (you can whisk the chilled cream in a bowl with a whisk) – the main thing here is not to overdo it, since the cream can curdle from quick cooling, and they should be moderately cold, without lumps. In general, for a serving of cream, 3-4 ice cubes and literally a few seconds of whipping – you will have to work out here.

6. Then, using a bar spoon, gently put cream on top of coffee with whiskeyso that they lay down in an even layer and do not fail (they do not fail due to the temperature difference, not the density).

You need to drink an Irish coffee cocktail without stirring, in large sips, so that the cream immediately interrupts the alcohol content of the whiskey. This recipe is used in the barista competition held by the European Specialty Coffee Association (SCAE) in the Coffee and Alcohol category. What else is there to add? Oh yes, whiskey, it must be Irish – it plays a very big role. A simple Jameson is used, other brands are also available, but Jameson is easy to buy and not expensive.

As for commercial Irish coffee, everything is simple: instead of a French press, ordinary espresso diluted with water is used, and whipped cream from a bottle, which gives the drink a more presentable look for ladies. It turns out a swill that is far from ideal Irish. In general, look and choose for yourself what you want to drink – you live with it!

And here is an adequate video recipe from a barista I know: