Irish Coffee
Jan 10, 2025
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In the late 1970's I was given an assignment to meet with a consultant, to learn their take on modelling water quality in natural systems. The person was an older gentleman, and with his red hair, beard, and pale skin, could likely have passed for Irish. Indeed he may have had some ethnic Irish in his blood, because it was he, who introduced me to Irish Coffee.
Now the meeting was held in San Francisco, and I discovered that most of the hotels did not have air conditioning in its rooms. This is not usually a problem, because the normal summertime temperatures there, at least at that time, generally ran below 70℉; on this day, however, probably for the first time in decades, the daily high must have hit somewhere in the 80's, and I was sweating like a horse just sitting in my hotel room!
Anyway, I survived the night and proceeded to my scheduled meeting the next morning. The meeting went well, and on discovering that it was my first trip to San Francisco, my new friend Phil decided he needed to show me around. On foot. Did you know that every street in San Francisco has a grade of at least 45 degrees? Did you know that everywhere you might want to go in that town is uphill from wherever you are?
So, one of the things Phil wanted me to experience was Irish Coffee, at the place where it was supposedly invented. I think it might have been called the "Buena Vista Cafe". Phil set off from the office at a brisk pace, and I tried gamely to keep up. Mostly with success, although I arrived at the bar suffering oxygen deprivation. By the time I recovered, Phil had already ordered for both of us and, I have to confess, the drink was truly memorable. In fact, I liked it a lot.
While savoring the drink I watched the bartender make about two dozen more, all at once. It was truly a demonstration of skill; but I'm not going to waste time describing what I saw. My intention here is to tell you how to replicate the final result, based on my observations..
Print Recipe
Suggested Equipment:
- Shot glass
- 8 floz glass (wine glass, cocktail glass, coffee cup, whatever you may have)
- Coffee maker
- Dinner-size tablespoon (NOT a tbs measure!)
- Mixing bowl of sufficient size (use your judgement)
- Egg beater or wire whisk
Ingredients:
- You can purchase and use whipped cream in pressurized cans, if you want.
- This is an approximate measure. Follow the directions, don't use the Tablespoon measure.
| Item | | Amount |
|---|
| Black Coffee |
Hot, moderately strong |
1 |
cup |
| Whipping cream1 |
Heavy |
2 |
floz |
| Sugar |
Confectioner's finely powdered white |
2 |
Tbs2 |
| Whiskey |
Irish, 80 proof |
1½ |
floz |
Directions:
Please note that all measures shown above are per serving! You must multiply those amounts by the number of servings you wish to produce.
Prepare the coffee following the directions for your coffee maker. Make it a bit strong.
If you aren't using the pressurized whipped cream from your grocer, whip the heavy cream until you have stiff peaks. Sweetening the cream is superfluous.
Using the dinner tablespoon, put a heaping spoonful of the confectioner's sugar in the glass or cup.
Add 1 shot (1½ floz) of Irish Whisky to the cup.
Rapidly pour the hot coffee into the cup, filling it to about ½ to ⅔ full. The rapid fill eliminates the need to stir.
Top with whipped cream, and serve.
Enjoy the whipped cream mustache!.
It's a simple recipe, but I've used it for over 45 years, with great satisfaction for myself, and kudos from those with whom I've imbibed. Try it out. You might like it!
Drinks, Dessert