Irish Coffee

Name: Irish Coffee
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Recipe: Reprinted with permission from Jason Clark and The Art & Craft of Coffee Cocktails, Ryland Peters & Small.

Photo: Alex Attikov Osyka

January 03, 2021

A classic winter warmer.

The creation of Irish chef Joseph Sheridan, who first invented the coffee cocktail on a dreary night back in the 1940s to rouse tired, chilly American travelers, Irish Coffee has since become a staple of bar menus around the world. It’s a comforting blend of whiskey, coffee, brown sugar and cream that warms you to the core.

Ingredients

2/3 cup fresh-brewed hot espresso or coffee of your choice
1 tsp. white sugar
1 ½ oz. Irish whiskey
1/3 cup heavy cream

Tools:coffee brewer, whisk (or electric frother)
Glass:toddy
Garnish:freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation

Preheat a heatproof glass with hot water and discard the water from the glass. Shake the cream in a cocktail shaker (or whisk with a small tubular whisk) to a thicker but still fluid consistency. Put all the remaining ingredients in the warm glass (sugar, whiskey, then coﬀee), making sure the sugar has dissolved and been stirred into the coﬀee and whiskey before gently layering the cream over the surface of the drink using a ﬂat-bottomed spoon. Garnish with grated nutmeg, if using, and serve at once.