What Is Irish Coffee

Irish coffee is not really a coffee drink. It is a cocktail that happens to contain coffee. Hot brewed coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar, and a float of lightly whipped cream, served in a clear glass so you can see the layers. You drink the coffee through the cream. You do not stir.

The drink was invented in the early 1940s at Foynes Airbase in County Limerick. Joe Sheridan, the head chef, added whiskey to coffee served to passengers on cold transatlantic flights. When a passenger asked if it was Brazilian coffee, Sheridan reportedly answered that it was Irish coffee. The name held.

How It Is Made

Start with a preheated glass. Add one teaspoon of brown sugar. Pour in hot, strong black coffee and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add approximately 1.5 ounces of Irish whiskey and stir again. Then the cream: lightly whipped, just past liquid, poured over the back of a spoon so it floats on top in a clean, unbroken layer. Do not stir it in. The point is to drink hot, sweetened, whiskey-laced coffee through a cold layer of cream. The temperature contrast is the experience.

When to Order One

Irish coffee is a winter drink. An after-dinner drink. A sitting-by-the-fire drink. It is not a morning beverage. It is the drink you order when the day is over and the evening has earned something warm and slightly indulgent. If your local cafe or restaurant makes one, try it. If they use instant coffee or spray whipped cream, look elsewhere. Find a quality cafe near you. The difference between a real Irish coffee and a bad one is the difference between a cocktail and a mistake.

Keep reading: How the World Drinks Coffee, What Is a Cortado, What Is Espresso.