Irish Coffee
A warm, sweet coffee drink with Irish whiskey under a thick, cold layer of lightly whipped cream.
Ingredients
- Irish whiskey40 ml
- Rich simple syrup, demerara syrup (2 parts Sugar, 1 part Water)10 ml
- Cream, lightly whipped, so it floats on top45 ml
- Coffee, freshly brewed and piping hot100 ml
Method
- Warm the glass by rinsing it with hot water, then pour the water away.
- Pour the Irish whiskey into the warm glass.
- Add the syrup and stir well until it has blended into the whiskey.
- Pour in the hot, strong coffee and stir gently so everything is combined.
- Whip the cream lightly, until thick but still pourable.
- Hold a spoon upside down just above the coffee and pour the cream slowly over the back of it, so it settles in a stable layer on top.
- Serve at once, and enjoy the coffee through the cold cream without stirring.
About this drink
Irish Coffee, or caife Gaelach, was created in the 1940s by the chef Joe Sheridan at Foynes airport in Ireland as a warm welcome for chilled passengers arriving from America. Sheridan added whiskey to the coffee to warm the travellers up, and the drink was later popularised in the United States by the journalist Stanton Delaplane. The decisive trick is still the same: a thick layer of lightly whipped cream that floats on top without mixing, so you drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
