Mixlio
Creamy · Nightcap · Winter
Irish Coffee
Hot coffee sweetened and spiked with Irish whiskey, then a collar of cold cream poured over a spoon. Drink it through the cream, do not stir.
- Base
- Whiskey
- Glass
- Irish coffee glass
- Method
- Build
- Strength
- 6.79% ABV
Ingredients
Servings
- 50 mlIrish Whiskey
- 120 mlHot coffee
50 mlFresh Cream1 swap
Whole milk or half-and-halfmediumLighter, less rich
1 tspSugar1 swap
Sugar syruphighDissolves instantly, same sweetness
How to make
Technique
Build · 10–15sBuilding straight in the glass keeps it simple and preserves any fizz.
- Warm black coffee is poured into a preheated Irish coffee glass.
- Whiskey and at least one teaspoon of sugar is added and stirred until dissolved.
- Fresh thick chilled cream is carefully poured over the back of a spoon held just above the surface of the coffee.
- The layer of cream will float on the coffee without mixing.
Serve
Glass
Irish coffee glassAlso fine: Toddy glass, Heatproof mug
Garnish
None
Taste & nutrition
6.79%ABV
163kcal
1.32Drinks
StrengthLight
Sweet to dryOff-dry
Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.
Good to know
- Chill your glass first for a colder, better-tasting drink.
History
Year1940s
PlaceFoynes, Ireland
Created byJoe Sheridan
Joe Sheridan created the modern Irish Coffee in the mid-1940s at Foynes flying-boat port in Ireland, warming cold, wet transatlantic passengers with whiskey-spiked coffee under a collar of cream. Asked if it was Brazilian, he supposedly replied that it was "Irish coffee." Sugar and properly floated cream are what set it apart. It later crossed to San Francisco's Buena Vista and went global.
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