Irish coffee
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey and a little sugar under a cool layer of cream. Drink it through the cream.
- Time
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Glass
- Heatproof glass
- Strength
- 1.6 UK units
How to make an Irish coffee
- Loosen the cream. Whisk or shake the cream until it thickens slightly and just coats a spoon, about 20 seconds. Stop before it holds peaks.
- Warm the glass. Fill the glass with hot water for a minute, then tip it away.
- Sweeten the coffee. Add the sugar and the hot coffee and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Sugar helps the cream float.
- Add the whiskey. Stir in the whiskey, leaving about 2 cm of space at the top of the glass.
- Float the cream. Pour the cream slowly over the back of a warm spoon held just above the coffee, so it settles in a thick layer on top. Do not stir.
- Glass
- Heatproof glassNo heatproof glass? A stemmed heatproof glass is traditional; a straight-sided mug is fine.
- Ice
- No ice
- Garnish
- A light grating of nutmeg or cocoaOr: Leave it plain; the cream is the point.
What you need to make an Irish coffee
Kit
KettleFor hot water and warming glasses.
JiggerA double-ended measure, usually 25 ml and 50 ml.
Whisk or shakerTo loosen cream until it just pours.
Bar spoonA long teaspoon does the job.
Bottles we'd use
- A smooth Irish whiskeyJameson or Powers: easy-drinking blends are what the drink was made with.Find it on Amazon
- Double creamNot single or whipping cream: it needs the fat to float.Find it on Amazon
Links to Amazon are affiliate links: if you buy through them, Bar Bandol may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Irish coffee story
Most accounts credit Joe Sheridan, a chef at Foynes on the west coast of Ireland, who in the 1940s gave cold, delayed transatlantic passengers hot coffee with whiskey and cream. A journalist took the idea to San Francisco, and it has been a fixture ever since.
The cream is the hard part. It should be loosely whipped, thick enough to float but still pourable, so each sip comes through cold cream into hot, sweet coffee.
Irish coffee: your questions answered
What is in an Irish coffee?
An Irish coffee is made with 40 ml Irish whiskey, 120 ml coffee, demerara and 30 ml double cream. Garnish: a light grating of nutmeg or cocoa.
How strong is an Irish coffee?
Made to this recipe, an Irish coffee contains about 1.6 UK units of alcohol per drink. That is worked out from typical bottle strengths, so it changes with the bottles you use. UK guidelines advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week.
What glass do you serve an Irish coffee in?
Serve an Irish coffee in a heatproof glass. No heatproof glass? A stemmed heatproof glass is traditional; a straight-sided mug is fine.
