Irish Coffee
ClassicIBA OfficialWhiskey, coffee, and a cap of cream.
Warm, rich, and bittersweet. Hot coffee and a little brown sugar meet the smooth, honeyed warmth of Irish whiskey, and the float of barely-whipped cream tempers every sip with cool silk. Nutmeg adds a whisper of spice. Comforting and grown-up — the perfect end to a cold evening.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 4 oz Hot Coffee
- 1 oz Heavy Cream
- Grated nutmeg · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Warm the glass with hot water, then discard it.
- 2
Add the brown sugar and hot coffee and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- 3
Stir in the Irish whiskey.
- 4
Lightly whip the cream until just pourable and float it over the back of a spoon, then grate a little nutmeg on top.
The Story
The Irish Coffee was created in the early 1940s by chef Joe Sheridan at Foynes, the flying-boat terminal that preceded Shannon Airport, to warm cold and weary transatlantic passengers. A travel writer carried it to the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco in 1952, where it was refined into the version the world knows. The trick is the float: lightly whipped cream that sits on top so you sip the hot, whiskey-laced coffee through a cool cream cap.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
